Aussies turn tables on Kiwis
In the women’s final, Australia broke New Zealand’s recent stranglehold to win the Cape Town tournament with a 26-12 victory.
The two women’s sides came into the final unbeaten in the South African leg, with the Black Ferns holding all the cards in recent match-ups.
The Kiwis have won the last five contests, including last weekend’s final in Dubai, where they brought Australia’s record streak of five tournament victories in the desert to an end.
Australia drew first blood two minutes into the contest with Heidi Dennis scoring in the right-hand corner from a counter-attack.
A minute later, Teagan Levi sneaked through the smallest of gaps on the 22-metre line to dot down and convert her try to double their lead (14-0).
The Aussies crossed the whitewash for a third time shortly before the half-time break, with Isabella Nasser breaking through a tackle to score on the buzzer.
The one-way traffic continued into the second half with Australian flyer Maddison Levi scoring a long-range five-pointer to extend their lead to 26-0.
The Black Ferns finally pulled one back 10 minutes into the match with Kelsey Teneti finding her way over the line (26-7).
Stacey Waaka rounded off some excellent attacking play for the New Zealanders, dotting down in the left-hand corner (26-12).
New Zealand’s fightback proved to be too little, too late as the Australians managed to absorb the pressure to claim the title.