Hong Kong Sevens: Stacey Waaka’s moment of magic seals history for New Zealand’s women
- New Zealand beat arch-rivals Australia 26-17 in a pulsating final to crown a superb women’s tournament
- ‘You know it’s do or die in those crucial moments. I just put my ears back and I’ll do anything for the team,’ Waaka says
When victory arrived for the Black Ferns Sevens on Sunday – 26-17 over arch-rivals Australia – it came as it has so often done for New Zealand at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens down through the ages.
It was built on a team-first mentality but it was sealed with a flash of individual brilliance, Stacey Waaka throwing a shimmy right and sending Australian star Maddison Levi left – and the whole park then opening up for the Kiwi forward to play with.
Waaka duly crossed, the scoreboard showed 26-17 to New Zealand, and the vow that this champion team – one who have now won five straight HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments – would write their names into the annals of Hong Kong Sevens history was duly delivered.
“You know it’s do or die in those crucial moments and I just put my ears back and, yeah, I’ll do anything for the team,” said Waaka, who was named Player of the Final for her two-try performance in the big one.
“We talked about paving a path for the future generations. We’re the first here and hopefully there’s many more in the years to come. Hopefully the girls watching at home in New Zealand can be standing here one day.
“I think the mindset this whole weekend is it’s not going to happen, we got to make it happen. And that’s just the nature of rugby, right? It’s whoever fights to the death.”
