Black Ferns Sevens win Cape Town tournament with strong comeback in final

New Zealand players celebrate winning the cup final of the Cape Town Sevens.

The Black Ferns Sevens recovered from a bumbling start to secure their first title of the Rugby SVNS series with victory over USA in the Cape Town final this morning.

New Zealand came back from 12-0 down to score 28 unanswered points and take the lead in the season standings after last week’s champions Australia failed to make the final. The Black Ferns Sevens booked a second straight final with a convincing 43-0 win over France in the semifinals and matched up against a confident USA side who put away Dubai Sevens champions Australia in the final play of their semifinal.

In the final, New Zealand made a number of errors early on and USA took full advantage. Nia Toliver opened the scoring with her first touch of the game, barely touched from deep within her own half. However, the conversion was missed when the option was there to go under the posts.

New Zealand then handed over possession and speedster Alyssa Porter scored to make it two tries in two minutes and a 12-0 as USA looked in a strong position for a fourth tournament title.

When Kelsey Teneti knocked on from the proceeding kickoff it seemed maybe it wasn’t New Zealand’s night. But that seemed to be the turning point.

Sevens great Sarah Hirini stole the lineout ball and Jorja Miller broke free for her second of the tournament. From the next kickoff, a Theresa Setefano intercept set up the second try with Jazmin Felix-Hotham crashing over. And in a blink, New Zealand had a 14-12 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Black Ferns Sevens again managed to turn their own mistakes into tries. Teneti chased down a kick but fell just short of the line and a pop-up pass to Miller was knocked on. But a strong effort on the following scrum saw New Zealand regain possession and extend the lead through Teneti.

Replacement Dhys Faleafaga added a fourth try to secure the 28-12 victory.

The win puts New Zealand on 38 points in the season standings, four clear of Australia with France two points further back on 32.

“We were pretty disappointed with last weekend. Far out, I’m absolutely stoked we’re going home with some goodies for Christmas, I can’t wait to share it with the rest of the group back home,” Hirini said.

In the men’s event, the All Blacks Sevens failed to make the semifinals, finishing sixth after defeat in the fifth-place playoff. They sit sixth on the season standings, 12 points back from leaders Fiji.

The series takes a break over the New Year before returning for the third round in Perth at the end of January.