Hong Kong Sevens: New Zealand set up women’s semi-final with Canada, Australia face France
A New Zealand v Australia final remains on the cards as both sides continue to flex their muscles
A quirk in the draw at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens on Saturday saw New Zealand beat Brazil twice in a row to set up a Sunday semi-final against Canada, a repeat of last summer’s Paris Olympics gold medal match.
The Hong Kong draw has still, more logically, kept the Black Ferns on track to meet Australia in a final many hoped to see at Kai Tak Stadium on Sunday.
The New Zealanders saw off Brazil for the second time by 31-17, while Australia recorded a 35-5 win over USA and will face France in the last four.
“We know Canada is going to be a tough one,” said Mahina Paul, scorer of the Black Ferns’ fifth and final try of the match.
“We know Canada always show up when we play, but we talk a lot about just sticking to what we do and not worrying about every other team like that.”
Hours before they met in the last eight, New Zealand saw off the Brazilians 29-17 in the final Pool A fixture, a result that meant the South Americans qualified for the quarter-final as the second-best third-placed team.