The Black Ferns Sevens have beaten Fiji 41-7 in the Cup final of the World Series in Vancouver this afternoon.
It was the New Zealand women’s 39th victory in their 50th World Series final and their 18th victory in a row at BC Stadium, where they remain unbeaten.
The victory helped keep the Black Ferns on top of the World Series table and was helped by a yellow card for a Fijian player 18 seconds into the match.
Risi Pouri-Lane took advantage by ghosting through a gap for a try, with Mania Nuku scoring her team’s second almost straight away from an inside pass from Sarah Hirini.
Once Fiji were back to full strength, Stacey Waaka scored to make a comeback increasingly unlikely, and, once the halftime siren sounded, Jorja Miller rubbed salt into Fijian wounds by scoring from a quick penalty tap from 50m out.
That gave New Zealand a 22-0 halftime lead, with Fiji compounding matters by failing to kick the ball the required 10m from the re-start.
Michaela Brake took advantage of that mistake, and an injured Fijian defender, and, while Fiji got one back, 18-year-old Maia Davis crossed the line for her first World Series try, with Mahina Paul also scoring one after excellent defensive pressure from Hirini.
The news was not so good for the men’s sevens, who lost their Cup quarter-final match to Spain after beating relative heavyweights Australia and Ireland in their pool.
The All Blacks Sevens were then well beaten 31-10 by Great Britain in their 5th-place play-off. It was another blow for a team languishing in seventh place on the table.
The Black Ferns Sevens got to their final by beating Australia 29-10 in their semifinal and Canada 34-12 in the quarter-final.
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