Australia's sevens teams have suffered a double anti-climax at the hands of their old New Zealand rivals, losing both finals in the season-opening world series event in Dubai.
The Aussie women, known as the 'queens of the desert" for their domination of the Dubai Sevens, were defeated for the first time after five consecutive triumphs and 32 straight match wins there on Sunday, outplayed 29-14 in the final by the reigning world series champs.
Then seeking to alter the balance of trans-Tasman power in the climax to the event, Australia's men also suffered a 26-22 defeat to the men in black in their showdown.
It was the first time Australia and New Zealand have met in both finals on the same world series weekend - but there could be little argument about the Kiwi superiority.
New Zealand's women had won four of their finals against Australia in last year's series, and they again dominated, with their ace Jorja Miller scoring two tries in a player-of-the-final performance to eclipse her star Australian counterpart Maddison Levi.
Levi, who had scored seven tries over the weekend going into the final, including two in the 31-10 semi-final victory over Fiji earlier on Sunday, didn't get a look in as the tough-tackling Black Ferns' ferocity in shackling their attacks helped them forge a 17-0 lead by halftime.
Tries from Stacey Waaka, Kelsey Teneti and Risi Pouri-Lane added to Miller's double, with two second-half scores from Heidi Dennis proving only consolations for Australia.
Minutes later, the Australian men, who'd earlier beaten France 14-0 in the semi-finals through two tries from nifty newcomer Will Cartwright, began positively against the Kiwis with Maurice Longbottom going over for the first score.
But the key playmaker had got injured while scoring and had to leave the field, handing the initiative to the Kiwis, who grabbed a 12-7 halftime lead through scores from Dylan Collier and Akuila Rokolisoa.
New Zealand's player-of-the-match Brady Rush made a sensational try-saving tackle on Aden Ekanayake next to the right corner flag, and when the Aussies were also about to score on the left flank, referee George Selwood controversially stopped play to review a possible foul that came to nothing.
Sione Molia then went on a 50-metre run after a steal to effectively seal the victory at 19-5, even though the Australians kept fighting, with two tries from Harry Wilson and another from Cartwright eventually limiting the winning margin to four points.
Captain Henry Hutchison felt it had been a hugely encouraging outing for his youthful team.
"Obviously we're super disappointed with the result but very proud of the efforts throughout the week. I thought the boys showed great perseverance, grit and courage in the final.
"To have three boys debut and most of the guys have under 10 caps, to show the growth over the weekend and continually improve holds great signs for the future. There's a lot of hunger in this team to be the best in the world and that is our goal."
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