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Sport | Black Ferns

Black Ferns Sevens fall short in final, but take World Series, Olympic qualification

The US, Black Ferns and third placed Canadian teams (photo: World Rugby)

The Black Ferns Sevens have suffered a rare loss this morning, going down 26-10 to the US in the final of the Biarritz leg of the World Sevens Series. However, simply by qualifying for the knockout stages of the cup competition meant they won the entire series for 2019.
As well as the series win, it also meant the Black Ferns have qualified for next year’s Olympic Games tournament in Tokyo.
After winning their three pool games yesterday, the Black Ferns started day two with a comfortable 36-0 win over China in their quarter-final. They then defeated a strong Canadian team 21-12 in their semi-final, before moving on to face the Americans in the final. The semi-final was also a special one for Black Ferns captain Sarah Hirini, as it was her 200th appearance for the team.
It proved to be a bridge too far for the Black Ferns, who trailed for the whole game. The US got on the board with a try to captain Alev Kelter after only a minute, then Cheta Emba followed that up to make the score 12-0.
The Black Ferns hit back through Ruby Tui, but then Kelter and Lauren Doyle both scored in the second half to push the lead out to an insurmountable 26-5. Shakira Baker grabbed a consolation try for the Black Ferns, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Americans from winning their first ever World Series tournament.
"This is a quality USA team and the few basic errors we made proved very costly. I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt but we've now got to celebrate a World Series win which was the goal of ours from the start of the season. USA are one of our rivals but the top six teams on the series are tough at any time. They've been there or thereabouts this season so they deserve a Cup title. They played their hearts out this weekend.
"It's been an awesome 12 months. It's been challenging at times as we've been through a lot of adversity back home but we've used most of the girls on our roster and that's a huge testament to those girls.” said Hirini post-match.
The season is now over for the Black Ferns Sevens, who have successfully retaken the World Series title back from last year’s champions Australia. They have won the series five times in the seven years it has been played.
Final World Sevens Series points:
New Zealand 110 , USA 100, Canada 94, Australia 86