New Zealand extended their lead over Australia in the HSBC SVNS Series standings to eight points after claiming their fourth tournament title in five events this season.

It was another hard-fought meeting between the two big rivals of the women’s sevens game — but player-of-the-final Jorja Miller was the crucial point of difference between the two teams.

Captain Risi Pouri-Lane pointed to the Black Ferns Sevens’ efforts to maintain consistency. “The biggest thing for us is that you can never get complacent and there’s always things you can work on and get better at. They make a big difference in the long run.”

USA beat France in the third-place play-off to end a nine-tournament wait for a podium finish, while Canada got the home crowd on their feet as they claimed fifth, and Japan claimed seventh at the end of an end-to-end play-off against Great Britain.

Final: Magic Miller outshines Levi in epic encounter

Jorja Miller was the star of the final as New Zealand got the better of perennial HSBC SVNS final opponents Australia for the fourth time in five showpiece meetings this season.

Miller scored one and made one in a full-throttle final as the Black Ferns Sevens blitzed Australia off the title to maintain their perfect winning record 

Maddison Levi scored two, taking her tournament tally to 10 — she has 40 already this season with the New York leg of the regular HSBC SVNS Series to come before the three-tournament World Championships.

Mackenzie Davis then ran under the posts to level the scores with two minutes left on the clock — but then Miller won a penalty and broke again. The ball found its way via Risi Pouri-Lane to Stacey Waaka on the wing. 

She could have scored but passed inside to Alena Saili to score closer to the posts. Risi Pouri-Lane converted to take the score to 24-17.

Player-of-the-final Miller said afterwards: “I am so proud of this team, I’m so honoured to wear this black jersey. We’ve had a few girls go down this weekend – it means a lot more to us than just rugby.”

And, on International Women’s Day she remembered who had inspired her. “When I was younger I was looking up to the greats, amazing players like Portia and Sarah Hirini. 

“I hope that, as a team, we can inspire young girls and young boys to play rugby.”

USA had made the Black Ferns Sevens work hard to maintain their four-year unbeaten run at BC Place, but Jorja Miller’s double and Mahina Paul’s 12th-minute touchdown were enough to see the four-time tournament champions this season through to the showpiece with a 19-12 win.

Relieved Black Ferns Sevens coach Cory Sweeney paid tribute to USA shortly after the semi-final . “They’re a good side, growing and developing,” he said. “Credit to the girls, they had to find some grit and find a way.”

Like New Zealand, Australia had to dig deep to claim a 14-5 win over France. Tries for Madison Ashby and Tia Hinds made the difference on the scoreboard, but it was the defensive effort that kept Les Bleues at arms’ length.

Hinds recognised the effort required immediately afterwards: “The French came out firing,” she told RugbypassTV. “It was a really tough battle. The girls dug in really deep.”

Third-place play-off: USA end long wait for podium finish

USA claimed their first podium finish in nine HSBC SVNS tournaments, and consolidated third place in the table after going toe-to-toe with France in a high-intensity play-off.

Ariana Ramsey got USA on the board first, but Hada Traore and Marie-Aurelie Castel — scoring her first try in her debut tournament — hit back for Les Bleues, who had won six of the eight most recent meetings between the two sides.

Two Sammy Sullivan tries either side of halftime and a second-half double for Kaylen Thomas settled the match 35-21, to claim their highest finish since Cape Town in 2024.

Play-offs: Canada raise roof at BC Place

Canada signed off their Vancouver challenge in style, getting the crowd at BC Place on their feet as they raced away to a 21-7 halftime lead over Fiji in the fifth-place play-off. They had to hang on in the second period, as the Pacific Islanders hit back — but the gap was too great, as the home side finished day two strongly to win 26-19.

Canada’s Charity Williams had earlier scorched around the outside of a despairing defence with the clock in the red at the end of the second half to beat Japan 19-12 and send the BC Place crowd into raptures.

Verenaisi Ditavutu and Atelaite Ralivanawa both scored two as Fiji clicked in the second half of their fifth-place semi-final to beat Great Britain 32-0.

Japan and Great Britain put on an exhibition of attacking sevens rugby on their final outing of the Vancouver weekend. In the end, Japan, who finished fourth in Canada last year, won an entertaining, end-to-end nine-try encounter 34-19 to claim seventh and leave GB still looking for their first win of the Series.