{"id":332992,"date":"2025-12-07T15:13:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T15:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/332992\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T15:13:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T15:13:04","slug":"australia-make-statement-in-cape-town-decider-against-black-ferns-sevens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/332992\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia make statement in Cape Town decider against Black Ferns Sevens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Australia<\/a> are title winners on the HSBC SVNS Series yet again, bouncing back from last weekend\u2019s heartbreaking defeat to rivals New Zealand<\/a> in Dubai with a 26-12 triumph over the same opponent in the Cape Town decider.<\/p>\n

New Zealand started the 2025\/26 season with some silverware, beating the Australians by four points at Dubai\u2019s The Sevens Stadium. Jorja Miller<\/a> received Player of the Final honours, but a week is a long time on the world\u2019s premier sevens circuit.<\/p>\n

As part of the season-opening double-header, the circuit made its way to Cape Town\u2019s DHL Stadium for a popular tournament in the Western Cape. The Black Ferns Sevens took out the title last season, while Australia claimed their only ever event crown in 2024.<\/p>\n

Both New Zealand and Australia went unbeaten in pool play, and booked their places in the big dance with some clinical semi-final victories. The Black Ferns Sevens defeated France, while Australia put on a point-scoring clinic against a valiant USA<\/a> outfit.<\/p>\n

Australia co-captain Isabella Nasser secured an early pilfer penalty, leading to Heidi Dennis\u2019 try moments later. Dennis had plenty of time and space, getting the better of formidable defender Kelsey Teneti<\/a> en route to the try line.<\/p>\n

Off the restart, Maia Davis took possession but was immediately bundled into touch. Teagan Levi extended Australia\u2019s advantage, reaping the rewards of a superb short ball from team co-captain Madison Ashby.<\/p>\n

Kelsey Teneti thought she had hit back for the New Zealanders later in the half, after Miller broke the game open with a series of long runs, but the TMO ruled the play back for a forward pass, keeping the Black Ferns Sevens scoreless.<\/p>\n

Miller made an impressive try-saving tackle on Dennis close to New Zealand\u2019s try line, and the reigning SVNS Series Player of the Year immediately jumped up to win a pilfer penalty, but the danger was far from over.<\/p>\n

Australia were awarded a penalty in the final play, with Nasser taking a quick tap before running away for a decisive try. The Australians led 19-0 at the break, and they\u2019d all but sealed the win with an effort from their try-scoring phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Teagan Levi set up Maddison Levi, with the former World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year gliding down the right touchline for a long-range effort. Teneti and Stacey Waaka<\/a> hit back, but the Australians did enough to hold off New Zealand\u2019s fightback.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put it out there today and I\u2019m so proud of every single one of the girls\u2026 it was a big squad effort,\u201d Player of the Final Nasser said post-game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crowd brings it. We soak in the energy and the atmosphere and it\u2019s absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the third-place playoff, France<\/a> left it late as they secured a thrilling 15-12 win over the USA. France overcame an early yellow card to win the bronze final, with Aelig Tregouet scoring the match-winner in the 15th minute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia are title winners on the HSBC SVNS Series yet again, bouncing back from last weekend\u2019s heartbreaking defeat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-332992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}