Australia took full advantage of a blip for defending HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series champions New Zealand to stage an early bid for a second crown by breezing to victory in Dubai.
Tim Walsh’s team saved the best for last at The Sevens Stadium Friday, whitewashing Canada, who finished third last season, 34-0 in the final.
The stadium was engulfed by a barrage of noise from an impressive fireworks display following victory as smoke billowed throughout the stands.
When it cleared, the Aussies were still standing, resplendent in their gold and green kit – and they will feel they the chances of regaining the title all-conquering New Zealand took off them in 2016/17 are bright after a vivid display.
They opened up with a 27-0 victory over Japan on Thursday, followed by 22-7 and 31-12 wins against England and Russia to top Pool B.
They beat England (29-12) again in the quarter-finals and Canada (25-7) in the last four yesterday, before dazzling in the final, with Evania Pelite grabbing a score on her way to the player of the tournament award.
Dominique Du Toit added a brace, while Sharni Williams, Emma Tonegato and Emilee Cherry topped the cake.
For 22-year- old star Pelite, victory in the Emirates was reward for all the hard work endured over the summer and in pre-season.
“It’s really great to come out here and get the first win of the series. We went away and worked really hard in pre-season so to come out and perform like that is a huge credit to us,” said the Brisbane native.
“We came out and wanted to focus on us. We came with a game-plan and we wanted to execute it and that’s what we did.”
Next up for the Aussies is their home tournament on the Gold Coast at the end of January.
And having suffered defeat at the hands of Canada in the Sydney semi-finals a year ago and beaten in the bronze medal match by New
Zealand, Pelite insists she and her colleagues will be fired up to perform on home soil, where a second victory would really enhance their chances of series success in a five-tournament season.
“It didn’t go as well as we wanted it to last season but we’re looking forward to going back home, putting the hard work in and hopefully do a repeat of tonight,” added Pelite, who won sevens gold with the green and gold last year in Rio.
“The girls definitely have the fire in their bellies at the moment. You can tell with the atmosphere in the changing room, the team camaraderie, it’s all gelling well.”
The Black Ferns, meanwhile, never finished below third last season, in fact bronze in Sydney was the only tournament in which they did not lift the main award as they celebrated five victories.
But a 14-12 to the USA in the last eight yesterday knocked them out of the running for the main title, Allan Bunting’s side eventually going on to finish fifth.
Australia coach Walsh admitted he was surprised by their exit and contemplated the fact they had not respected the tournament as much as they should have.
“I was surprised,” he said.
“They’ve been in incredible form. But the US are always physical. New Zealand, looking at it, lost it themselves. They had a few kicks
yesterday that went awry and then kicked away the ball a few times against the US, didn’t respect the ball and they (the US) took full advantage.”
Walsh labelled his own team’s performance “exceptional”.
“I thought the semi-final really put us in good stead and they really performed well there,” he added.
“Executed exactly what we were trying to do. Scoring that amount of points and the way we did it, we’re happy with how the tournament
went, it was a pretty exceptional performance, particularly Evania, I thought she was world-class.
“It gives the girls faith in what we’re doing. Such a long pre-season and hard work, to see it unfold instils belief in the programme.
“You need to get off to a good start because with five (tournaments this year) the season’s over before you know it. Every tournament, every game, really counts
