New Zealand beating Australia in rugby football is barely news, except that this time it was the Black Ferns inflicting defeat on the Wallaroos in the Sevens format.
The two sides were playing in South Africa in the Cape Town rugby Sevens and the outcome of the game was 17 – 7.
It required less than three minutes for the Black Ferns to establish a lead and a try from Ruby Tui put New Zealand ahead by 12 points at the break.
The Wallaroos mounted a comeback in the second half on a try from Ellia Green. The score moved Green to the top of the table for try scoring in World Sevens Series competition.
Tui scored again, however, and the Black Ferns coasted comfortably to the win.
On the men’s side, New Zealand was victorious, beating South Africa 7 – 5.
New Zealand might need to add another island to store all the trophies.
Wallaroos coach John Manenti was gracious following the loss and supportive of his players.
“I’m really proud of the effort of this group in Cape Town and we played some good rugby to reach the final. New Zealand played well in the final and deserved their victory today. This group knows that they are improving with every tournament and that’s exciting as we head into the Hamilton and Sydney legs of the series.”
The Australian men’s side did not have a good tournament. They lost the playoff for 11th place to Canada by the score of 22 – 5, their worst World Series finish since 2013.
We do not intend to disparage the sevens format in any way, but if there is anything Australia can do to find a way past New Zealand, we would gladly share that intel with the board room of Australian rugby.
We would suggest dividing New Zealand into two countries, North New Zealand and South New Zealand.
They could wage local battles for rugby supremacy and leave the rest of the world alone, but there are several reasons why our proposal would be impractical.
