1 Dec 2018

Black Ferns Sevens win in Dubai

9:45 am on 1 December 2018

The New Zealand women's rugby sevens team has won its second straight World Series tournament, beating Canada 26-14 in the Dubai final.

Black Ferns Sevens Stacey Waaka.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The Black Ferns Sevens beat Russia 31-0 in the quarter-finals and the USA 22-0 in the semi-finals.

It is the fourth time New Zealand has won the Dubai tournament and the result inceases their lead in the series after they won the opening tournament in Colorado.

It is the Black Ferns Sevens fifth title in a row, they have now won their last 30 matches on the series and 39 in a row in global competitions.

A brace of tries from Player of the Final Tyla Nathan-Wong secured the win although New Zealand had to work hard for their victory over Canada, who were playing in their first Cup final.

Theresa Fitzpatrick opened the scoring in the final after coasting through a hole in the Canadian defence, before a quick tap penalty by Ghislaine Landry saw her go over under the posts to give herself an easy conversion for a 7-5 lead.

Canada elected to play on after the half-time hooter sounded and paid the price when the ball was turned over and Nathan-Wong put in a burst of speed to race away for a 12-7 lead at the break.

Gayle Broughton then increased that lead only for Canada, bidding for their first Cup title since Sydney in 2017, to hit back almost immediately through a long run-in by Julia Greenshields. Canada, though, then lost Bianca Farella to the sin-bin for a high tackle and in her absence Fitzpatrick sold a dummy before releasing Nathan-Wong for her second try.

Black Ferns Sevens win in Dubai 2018.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

New Zealand captain Sarah Goss was named player of the tournament and said afterwards: "I feel amazing - Dubai is one of my favourite places to play. It's been an amazing couple of days and I'm proud of the efforts of the girls. The new girls thrived and they will get better and better with the opportunity."

Nathan-Wong added: "I'm stoked with the win - this tournament we really had each others' backs. It doesn't matter who's wearing that black jersey, we've got each others' back and we really stepped it up. We stayed composed and communicated really well and we got the win."

The Black Ferns Sevens' lead the standings with the maximum 40 points, six ahead of Canada with the USA on 32 and defending series champions Australia now fourth on 28 points after winning the bronze medal in Dubai.

The next round is in Sydney in February.

Meanwhile the New Zealand men's team opened their Dubai tournament with three wins - 28-7 over Wales, 28-17 over Spain and 24-7 over the USA - and will play Scotland in the quarter-finals.