All Black Sevens dumped out in Vancouver quarterfinals by Australia

The All Blacks Sevens’ hopes of securing a third straight world series title are over after a comprehensive quarterfinal defeat to Australia in Vancouver.

Speed demon Henry Paterson scored two of the Australians’ three tries as they ran out deserved 17-7 winners against a below-par New Zealand, who never really got going.

Having captured the title in Los Angeles last week, the series-leading All Blacks Sevens had been warm favourites heading into their last eight clash with their trans-Tasman rivals.

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They had looked in imperious form in the pool stage, hammering the United States (52-0) and Spain (17-7), before swatting aside Samoa 40-5 to top their section.

But Clark Laidlaw’s side more than met their match against a fired-up Australia, who showed their intentions early by moving the ball through hands from one side of the pitch to the other as New Zealand struggled to get hold of the pill.

One such sweeping move resulted in an offload to Paterson on the right wing and the mustachioed flyer known as ‘Magnum P.I.’ put on the after-burners to score in the corner.

The All Black Sevens almost hit back immediately, only for Leroy Carter to be dragged into touch by Tim Clements with the tryline in sight.

However, the Kiwis didn’t have to wait long to get themselves on the board. In their very next attack, Ngarohi McGarvey-Black picked up the ball following a well-worked set piece and ghosted his way through a static Australian defence to score under the posts.

McGarvey-Black kicked the extras to give the All Black Sevens a 7-5 cushion, one they would hold very briefly. Australia continued to dominate possession, dragging the New Zealanders out of position with some slick passing until 19-year-old sensation Darby Lancaster spotted a gap and skipped past several tackles to send the men in green and gold into the break 12-7 to the good.

The All Black Sevens regrouped well at halftime and came agonisingly close to a second try when Moses Leo sprinted down the right wing only to be hurled into touch by the impressive Lancaster, who showed electric pace to get back and make the tackle.

From there, Australia defended resolutely before Paterson put the game beyond the Kiwis’ reach with a minute left, bursting through the New Zealand backline from deep and fending off a desperate tackle from Roderick Solo on the line to dot down.

The subsequent conversion hit the right upright but it didn’t matter, as Australia clung on for the remaining 50 seconds to secure the upset and set up a semifinal clash with France on Monday (NZT).

Ireland will face Argentina in the other men’s semifinal after they edged the USA 15-5 in the final game of the day at BC Place.

Earlier on Saturday (Sunday NZT), the Black Ferns Sevens scraped their way into the last four at the World Series tournament in Vancouver after holding on for a thrilling 10-5 quarterfinal win over hosts Canada.

After a sublime opening day on Saturday (NZT) where they crushed newcomers Colombia 60-0 and thrashed Great Britain 43-7, the series-leading New Zealand women had carried that into day two with a comfortable 24-7 win over Fiji in their final pool game.

That earned them a quarterfinal clash with the Canadians, ranked a lowly 10th in the standings, who finished as the second-best third-ranked side, and who had faced the Kiwis in training during the week.

Kelly Brazier had the honour of leading the side out, in what was her 200th match, on a night where she was celebrating the arrival of her second child back in New Zealand, and her team ensured it would indeed be a memorable occasion for her – but only just.

The women in black had quickly quietened the home crowd, opened the scoring in just the second minute when Tyla Nathan-Wong dropped Portia Woodman-Wickliffe under, and the veteran speedster surged away to the left corner, and had taken a 10-0 lead to halftime after Michaela Blyde had also blazed her way through.

But after Brazier went close to opening the second-half scoring, the momentum all turned when Keyara Wardley came up with a huge defensive ruck turnover.

A few seconds later Blyde was sin-binned for a high tackle, and it was that lady Wardley who then got Canada on the board, in the fourth minute of the second spell.

New Zealand, who had won 42 of 46 quarterfinals going into it, last losing one in 2019, were then forced to scramble on defence through the closing stages.

Olivia De Couvreur looked for all money like scoring, or setting up, the game-levelling try, only for Risi Pouri-Lane to produce a brilliant tackle which saw the ball dislodged, and her team was off the hook.

They still had to work hard near their own line to kill the game in the final seconds, though, as the Canadians fired up on defence, and almost forced a turnover, before captain Sarah Hirini was able to boot the ball over the dead-ball line to cap immense relief.

The Black Ferns Sevens will face France in their semifinal, on Monday at 10.26am (NZT), after the French pipped Ireland 12-10 in their quarter. Australia will meet the United States in the other semifinal.

The victory means the Black Ferns Sevens have now qualified for the sevens competition at next year’s summer Olympics in Paris.