Hong Kong Sevens: familiar foes meet earlier than expected as New Zealand and Australia prepare for semi-final clash
- Black Ferns’ surprise defeat to France in pool stage brings last year’s finalists together game earlier than expected
- USA to take on France in second semi-final, with Anne-Cecile Ciofani saying side’s ‘know each other well’
Last year’s final has become this year’s semi-final at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, with defending women’s champions New Zealand set for a meeting with their old rivals Australia a little earlier than expected.
The Australians are leading the way in the series’ overall season standings, but their trans-Tasman rivals are hot on their heels, just four points behind.
Most would have expected the pair to be kept apart until Sunday evening, but the Black Ferns lost their last pool game at Hong Kong Stadium to France, a surprise 26-21 defeat on Saturday pushing them to the other side of the draw.
Neither side were complaining as they prepared for a showdown they had long assumed was inevitable, and which is set up tantalisingly to almost certainly provide one of the must-watch moments of the tournament’s third and last day.
The Kiwis had regrouped and refocused by the time they were next in action in a quarter-final tie against Canada later on Saturday afternoon. They wasted little time in dismantling their opponents, eventually winning 26-5.
Shiray Kaka, one of their Olympic gold medal-winners, got them up and running in the second minute. The sevens veteran then added another score, a minute after teammate Jojo Miller had got in on the act.
