Rugby World Cup 7s: Aussie women seal triple crown with World Sevens title win over NZ

The Australian women are again on top of the rugby world - sealing a ridiculous triple crown in the early hours of Monday morning.

Faith Nathan has starred for Australia. Picture: Rodger Bosch/AFP

The Australian women are undisputed sevens champions after winning the Rugby World Cup 7s crown to seal the triple crown this year after snaring the Sevens World Series and Commonwealth Games titles.

The Aussies clinched the championship in the early hours of Monday morning (AEST), beating New Zealand 24-22 in a thrilling final.

After establishing a 24-10 lead midway through the second half, the Australians had to survive a gritty fightback from the Kiwis, who scored two late tries but missed a conversion attempt in the dying seconds that would have squared the contest.

Maddison Levi scored three tries for the Aussies, with Faith Nathan also crossing and Sharni Williams adding two conversions.

What better time to get a hat-trick than a final!? 🤩

Maddison Levi is putting on a show 🇦🇺#RWC7s | #HereToSevens | @Aussie7spic.twitter.com/znVRh9V8uq

— Rugby World Cup 7s 2022 (@WorldRugby7s) September 11, 2022

Rio Olympic gold medallist Williams was named player of the final for her efforts.

“It’s a tough battle always in our rivalries with New Zealand but it’s just that skill execution, as soon as we had set piece you could see that it unfolded - they scored, we scored and it became a really great testament to what rugby sevens is,” she said.

And she paid tribute to her team.

“I love these girls, they keep me young - old girl, new tricks,” she said.

Nathan’s try was the ninth of the tournament, making her the leading scorer of the Rugby World Cup after her record

Sing it loud and proud girls 🙌#TripleCrown#Aussie7s#RWC7s#WorldRugby7spic.twitter.com/81vgMXsgH5

— AU 7s (@Aussie7s) September 11, 2022

-breaking five in the opening round against Madagascar.

The women advanced to the final after beating the US 17-7 in the semi-final earlier in the day.

The Aussie men were not as successful on the final day, losing their semi-final 38-14 to eventual champions Fiji before going down 19-14 to Ireland in the bronze medal playoff after being locked 7-7 at halftime.

But their efforts, on the back of winning the world series title a fortnight ago, show plenty of promise for the national sevens program after dark days for both the men and women at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

SELFLESS ACT FROM AUSSIE 7S GIRLS

Australia is backing up its new status as a sevens heavyweight, with both the men’s and women’s teams booking places in the semi-finals at the Rugby World Cup Sevens championships in South Africa.

They play off on Sunday night for a place in the World Cup final, where a title for eighth side would cap an outstanding year.

Australia’s men, who won the Sevens World Series title just a fortnight ago, pushed through to the World Cup semis with a 14-5 win against France in their quarter-final.

While tournaments during the regular season are played in a pool format before crossovers, the World Cup is a knockout format and has taken the South African men, winners of the first four regular-season tournaments, and the Fijian women, Olympic bronze medallists, out of contention ahead of the semis.

Change of direction and he’s away 💨

Maurice Longbottom gets it done for @Aussie7s in the quarter-final in Cape Town#RWC7s | #HereToSevenspic.twitter.com/LHeRT8TTif

— Rugby World Cup 7s 2022 (@WorldRugby7s) September 10, 2022

Australia bested Uruguay 35-0 in their opening round of 16 contest to win through to the match against France.

They had to survive a French fightback early in the second half of that match before Maurice Longbottom scored and converted his own try to seal the win and set up a final four clash against Olympic gold medallists Fiji.

In the women’s division, the Aussies, who sealed their world series crown in May, beat Madagascar 48-0 in their round of 16 clash.

Speedster Faith Nathan became the first player to score five tries for Australia in a Rugby World Cup Sevens game.

Faith Nathan has starred for Australia. Picture: Rodger Bosch/AFP

Remember the name, Faith Nathan 🙌

Faith becomes the first player ever to score 5 tries for Australia in a #RWC7s game 👏

🎥 @worldrugby7s#Aussie7spic.twitter.com/7CxEm7FfWQ

— AU 7s (@Aussie7s) September 9, 2022

The Aussies showed no mercy on the pitch but were involved in a great act of sportsmanship ahead of the contest when they discovered their rivals had turned up to the tournament with just one kit for both training and competition, having self-funded their uniforms.

Seeing this, the Australians handed over their training kit - a green jersey with Indigenous design - to Madagascar as training wear.

🥰 WHY WE LOVE RUGBY 🥰

Madagascar 7s could only take one kit with them to their inaugural #RWC7s due to self-funding, the same kit for both training and matches.

After seeing this, the #Aussie7s women donated their alternate jersey to Madagacsar to use as a training kit 👏 pic.twitter.com/fi4F4Mg8hn

— AU 7s (@Aussie7s) September 9, 2022

The women, on the up again in the Sevens program after bombing out at the Tokyo Olympics, beat England 35-5 in the quarter-finals to set up a final four showdown against the US.

New Zealand will meet France in the other women’s semi, with the New Zealand men to take on Ireland - who beat hosts South Africa in their quarter - in the other men’s semi.

Originally published as Rugby World Cup 7s: Aussie women seal triple crown with World Sevens title win over NZ