New Zealand’s Sevens Sisters have booked a place in the semi finals in Rio, but they had to fight out a tough 5-0 slog against the USA.
In the end, New Zealand held on for a narrow 5-0 victory, sealing a place in the semi finals and scheduling a clash against Great Britain. However, it wasn’t without some ‘edge of the seat’ moments.
The USA has earned high praise for their performances throughout the Olympics. In the final match in pool play, they drew with Gold Medal favourites Australia. The USA had their chance to beat New Zealand and will be disappointed to come up short. With limited possession, the USA couldn’t take advantage of having an extra player on the field.
New Zealand Women Sevens Team Beat USA 5-0 In Quarter Final
Sean Horan knows his side had to work for their victory in the quarter final, a match where just a single try was scored. The win was by no means a convincing one, and many would argue that New Zealand were forced to play their ‘got out of jail free’ card.
Portia Woodman scored just before halftime. But New Zealand found themselves a player down when Tyla Nathan-Wong was sent to the sin.
The New Zealand women would have learn’t a lot from the struggle against the USA. Defensively, they held out well and won the game on the back of it. Many teams would have lost their way in such a position, especially with just a five-point lead. In Sevens, three minutes is a long time, and Horan will thank his lucky stars that the USA made the errors in possession that they did.
But still, there is concern that the New Zealand women were only able to score one try in the quarter final.
Great Britain Awaits In An Intriguing Semi Final
For New Zealand, it may take a lot more than that to beat Great Britain in the semi final. The Brits have eased their way to the semi finals, and in their last match, breezed past Fiji easily 26-7.
Just four teams remain in Rio, those being Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and New Zealand. Canada will be hoping to shock the world again by beating Australia. If they could do that, you’d have to bet they would be confident in beating New Zealand or Great Britain in the final.
The final day of women’s sevens action begins tomorrow in Rio.
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