(Photo World Rugby)
Australia’s men’s sevens squad followed the lead of their female counterparts to claim the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series title in Valladolid, with a thrilling comeback win over a South Africa side who have dominated the sevens season so far.
They recovered from a rapid Blitzboks’ start to win 26-19 in dramatic fashion in the showpiece to lift the trophy, while confirming their place on the main HSBC SVNS Series for next season, alongside their beaten final opponents, and Argentina – who finished in third with a play-off victory over Fiji.
The Australia women had earlier brushed off their shock pool phase loss to USA on day two to claim the title in Valladolid with a dominant performance in the final and leapfrog New Zealand at the top of the HSBC SVNS World Championship table heading into the final tournament in Bordeaux
Having stunned New Zealand with a comeback win in the last four of an appetite-whetting opening match on a thrilling final day in Valladolid, Australia finished the job with a comprehensive performance in the final to lift the trophy in north-west Spain.
The Black Ferns Sevens bounced back from their shock semi-final loss to claim third, Kelsey Teneti scoring five of their tries in a dominant win over Canada.
New Zealand, along with the two finalists, have guaranteed their places on the HSBC SVNS Series next season.
Men’s Final: Hutchison stars as Australia complete Spanish gold rush
Australia fought their way back from 14-0 down to beat South Africa 26-19 in a thrilling men’s final. The Blitzboks had got off to a lightning start. Shilton van Wyk and Sebastiaan Jobb sent the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series leaders into a 14-0 lead in the opening three minutes.
But, then, Australia found their footing. James Turner got them on the board, and Ethan McFarland touched down to level the scores just before the break.
Ben Dowling raced clear to send Australia into the lead seconds after South Africa’s Tristan Leyds was sent to the sin-bin. And player-of-the-final Henry Hutchison added another in the 11th minute to open up a 10-point lead.
But a red for Turner for a high tackle gave South Africa an outside chance to steal it. Gino Cupido cut the deficit with seconds left on the clock – and then looked to have delivered the crucial final pass that would have levelled the scores and forced the final into golden point extra time.
But the pass went slightly forward.
Hutchison paid tribute to the Blitzboks immediately afterwards: “South Africa have made it to so many finals for a reason,” he told RugbyPass. “We knew they were going to be good, but we had a lot of confidence going into this game that, if we stuck to what we were good at, we’re a really hard team to stop – and we did that for the last two games of this tournament.”
Semi-finals: South Africa set up final clash with ‘bogey team’
Henry Hutchison scored two in the second period as Australia held off a determined Fiji to win 21-14 and book their place in the final. James Turner had got their first in the fifth minute, after Australia had dominated the opening exchanges.
But every time they pulled away, Fiji hit back. Kavekini Tanivanuakula hit back immediately after Turner’s touchdown, and George Bose broke clear to score after Hutchison’s first. But his second – patiently worked by the entire team on the pitch – was a try too far for even the remarkable Fijian outfit.
SA have had trouble scoring tries in Valladolid, only managing nine in the first two days. But they got the scoreboard against Argentina moving courtesy of Sebastiaan Jobb in the second semi-final.
Ricardo Duarttee’s second-half solo effort added to their tally, before Ryan Oosthuizen sealed the deal in the final seconds as the Blitzboks booked their place in a sixth successive final on the HSBC SVNS tour with a 21-7 win.
“Obviously they beat us in the pool stages, they beat us in New York so they’ve been a bit of our bogey team. They’re a quality side – we really need to fix our errors, look after the ball, make our tackles, just play quality rugby,” Oosthuizen told RugbyPass.
Play-offs: Moneta-Gonzales duo guide Argentina to third
The prolific Marcos Moneta-Luciano Gonzalez partnership paid dividends for Argentina in the third-place play-off, helping them to a 28-17 win over Fiji.
Jayden Keelan’s spectacular opening try, with just two minutes on the clock, and his second late in the second-half helped New Zealand to a 22-12 win over hosts Spain, handing them a fifth-place finish.
Enahemo Artaud’s double earned France a 14-5 victory over Kenya, and ensured a seventh-place finish and crucial points heading into the final round of the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series next weekend in Bordeaux.
Two tries from captain Lucas Lacamp and some stout late defence helped USA to a 28-21 win over Germany to seal ninth.
Juan Manuel Tafernaberry’s tricky conversion of Joaquin Fresnedo’s on-the-hooter second try snatched 11th place for Uruguay out of Great Britain’s hands, deciding the match 19-17.
Women’s Final: Dennis steps up as Australia dominate
Already without the services of Maddison Levi who suffered a tournament-ending injury on Saturday, Australia also suffered the late withdrawal of playmaker Tia Hinds shortly before kick-off.
But Australia rode their absences in tournament-winning style as they avenged their day two defeat to USA with a convincing 27-14 win over the same opponents in the final.
Heidi Dennis darted over for the opening score of the game, and Faith Nathan added two of her own before USA had enough ball to fire a shot of their own.
They had 17 points on the board before Ariana Ramsey found an answer in USA’s first attack of the game with six minutes gone – and there was still time for player-of-the-final Dennis to score her second before the break.
USA showed more bite and threat in the second half, but were held at bay by an organised Australian defence. Even when they did break, Dennis in particular performed heroics without the ball.
Teagan Levi put the final beyond doubt with 12 minutes on the clock, before Erica Coulibaly had the final consolation word for USA.
Dennis acknowledged Australia used the hurt of their pool phase defeat as motivation to set the record straight in the final. “We know we didn’t play to our best ability in [the pool] game. So to have a second chance to come out here and beat him, it was a great opportunity and we capitalised on it,” she told RugbyPass.
“We really focused on our defence, kick deep and press and hold them. And we just executed that. It was great.”
Semi-finals: Shave cuts down Black Ferns Sevens
A match-up that has graced every final so far this HSBC SVNS season would have graced the showpiece in Valladolid. Instead the fans were given an early taste of the thrilling day in store, as the two best sides on the series attacked and countered from the outset.
New Zealand raced into an early lead, via Mahina Paul and Stacey Waaka – but with 20 seconds left on the clock, Tia Hinds converted Kaitlin Shave’s touchdown, the eighth of an end-to-end match, to take Australia into a 28-26 lead.
“I just saw the ball come out and I was just like, I need to catch this. I thought it was a bit hot so I was like, I’ve just got to catch and brace myself,” Shave told RugbyPass in Valladolid.
“Once I knew I was free I had a little bit of a smile because I knew that we were able to put us back in the race.”
After six losses on the bounce to their greatest rivals in HSBC SVNS finals this season, Australia repeated their heroics in Madrid two years ago and finished on top in the last four in north-west Spain.
If the first semi-final was a thrilling punch-counter-punch encounter, the second was no-less enthralling for the lack of scores. USA gutsed their way to a second meeting this weekend with Australia, battling back from 12-0 down at the break to win 14-12 courtesy of touchdowns from debutant Sereana Vulaono, and Kaylen Thomas – less than a minute from time.
“It was amazing – it took all of us – every single second,” a delighted Thomas told RugbyPass TV immediately after the match.
Play-off places: Five-star Teneti ensures New Zealand finish third
New Zealand didn’t want to play for third in Valladolid, but didn’t show it, with Kelsey Teneti scoring five tries in a 50-14 victory over Canada.
Alycia Christiaens scored in each half as France ran in five tries to beat Japan 29-12 and claim fifth place in Valladolid.
Tries from Verenaisi Ditavutu and Mariana Talatoka bagged seventh place for Fiji with a 14-5 win over hosts Spain.
South Africa claimed ninth with a 19-12 win over Brazil, thanks to tries from Ayanda Malinga, Maceala Samboya, and Zintle Mpupha.
A late Great Britain fightback was in vain as Argentina wrapped up 11th place with a 24-19 win.
