Black Ferns Sevens beat Australia in Perth to claim their third HSBC SVNS title of the season, while Blitzboks hang tough to win a physical encounter with Fiji for their second.
New Zealand beat Australia in the showpiece match for a third time this season to claim a four-point lead in the HSBC SVNS Series league table as they added the Perth title to their Dubai and Singapore crowns.
Despite the 29-7 scoreline, their final victory was not as dominant as their win last week in Singapore, as defending champions Australia put up a fight but two tries either side of the break for Player of the Final Kelsey Teneti handed the Black Ferns Sevens an advantage they were never going to give up.
An emotional Teneti told Rugbypass TV pitchside immediately after the final: āItās more than just a game. We carry our wahine and our country on our shoulders, so to go back-to-back really means a lot. āWe know Australia are an amazing team. It can go either way, but we just tried to the basics right. Weāre literally just sisters!ā
Captain Risi Pouri-Lane said: āWeāve been coming here three years now, and had some heartbreaks over those years. To still turn up even when itās hard, even when youāre hurting, even when itās been a long tour. Iām really proud of the girls.ā
And Stacey Waaka added: āItās been three years in the making for this win, so weāre stoked to finally get this one. Itās been an awesome tournament because we have lots of family in the crowd, so we treat it like itās our home crowd. Weāre just really proud of the girls and their efforts to pull through, [theyāre] such a young team. Iāll be a part of that āyoungnessā too, even though I’m one of the older ones!ā
France, meanwhile, beat USA in a hard-fought bronze final, Hawa Tounkaraās late try enough to seal the victory at the end of a lung-busting second half.
In the menās tournament South Africa toughed out an intense and hard-fought final against Singapore champions to claim a first Australian title in more than a decade to add to the Cape Town crown they won in early December.
After streaking into an early lead, the Blitzboks were pegged back before player-of-the-final Ryan Oosthuizen muscled his way through three defenders to the tryline for the decisive score.
ā[Iām] very happy with our performance,ā he said immediately after the final. āFiji is always a battle, and today definitely delivered. Iām super-proud of my team. We fought for one another and thatās the Blitzbok standard we set for each other.ā
Looking back on his crucial second touchdown, he added: āIām always very happy to make an impact and luckily for me it worked out. Iām not the fastest guy so sometimes i need to run over people!ā
South Africaās captain Siviwe Soyizwapi added: āWe worked so hard to replicate what we did in Cape Town. We lost a few key figures in our team in crucial positions ā and so the youngsters had to step up.
āIt took a week for them to play at their full potential, to get their confidence and play out of their socks, so coming into Perth, I think they hit the sweet spot and weāre really happy with how far theyāve come and how well the team just grew over each game that we played together. Getting the win is just a cherry on top.ā
Earlier, Australia claimed third in the first Trans-Tasman encounter of finals day, Josh Turner scoring the crucial try as they came from behind to win a fiery encounter 12-10.
The draw for the next leg of the HSBC SVNS Series in Vancouver took place on the sidelines of the post-tournament celebrations in Perth.
Womenās Dubai, Singapore and Perth champions New Zealand have been drawn against France, Japan and Great Britain in Pool A in Canada, while Cape Town winners Australia face a stiff challenge against USA, Canada and Fiji in Pool B
In the menās competition, newly crowned Perth champions South Africa will play New Zealand, Spain and Great Britain in Pool A. Beaten finalists Fiji, meanwhile, are in a tough Pool B, which features Australia, Argentina and France.
