Victory in the Grand Final in Bordeaux on Sunday, 7 June, would see Australia crowned the women’s HSBC SVNS World Champions, no matter what fierce rivals New Zealand do.
That equation seemed miles off when the green-and-gold lost five finals in succession to the seemingly unstoppable Black Ferns Sevens. But a last-minute 28-26 win over their neighbours in the Valladolid semi-finals last weekend changed everything.
“It’s still such a surreal feeling,” Kaitlin Shave, scorer of Australia’s season-changing try, said from Bordeaux. “It was so good for the group to finally get a win.”
Shave and co followed that seismic semi-final performance with a dominant display in the final, triumphing 22-14 over the USA. That, combined with second place in the first of the three World Championship-deciding stops in Hong Kong, means Australia sit two points clear of New Zealand at the top of the table and hold their destiny in their own hands.
“I’m really, really excited for this group,” Shave said on the eve of the title-decider.
This remarkable turnaround all started with another loss on day one in Valladolid, a pool-stage defeat to the USA. That result meant – after facing New Zealand in all six HSBC SVNS Series league-stage grand finals, plus in the opening World Championship leg final – the trans-Tasman match-up would come in the semi-finals in Spain.
“There was a really good shift going away from nerves into just being excited to have a crack at them in the semis, and I think everyone just had a really, really strong belief in one another and in the team,” Shave said.
That belief was severely tested with reigning world champions New Zealand leading 21-7 at half-time. But it never wavered.
“I was on the bench so the first half was a bit hard, but we [the replacements] just had this weird feeling that we were still in it,” Shave said.
“So, going into halftime, we were rallying around the girls that were on the field, and everyone looked at each other in the eye and said, ‘We’ve got this, we’re still in this’.”
The reasons for this belief? First up, thanks go to the coaching staff.
“Our coaches have a massive belief in us,” the 25-year-old Shave said. “Obviously, there was a bit of disappointment every time we would make the GF [grand final], and just fall short, or maybe just have a really bad game.
“But we’ve always been able to regroup, return back to training, take accountability, and just go back to the drawing board.”
Add to this a sense of unity that not even the relentless succession of near misses was able to break.
“Isabella [Nasser] and Madi Ashby [Australia’s co-captains] are really strong on connection and being united as one,” Shave said. “We have a really strong connection and sisterhood. We want to work hard for each other, and everyone wants the same goal.”
And being second so many times may have some benefits, after all.
“We were really, really close in New York [a 22-21 defeat in the final to New Zealand], and we were really close in Hong Kong [a 19-14 final win for New Zealand], so we just had this really big fire in our bellies,” Shave said.
Those experiences meant the team was able to stick to their gameplan in Valladolid – something Shave admits they haven’t always done this season when facing their neighbours – and turn the half-time deficit around. It was all sealed by Shave darting over for a decisive last-minute score, converted by Tia Hinds.
Now, they have to gear up and do it all again. Shave is quick to stress that hosts France, fifth-placed Canada and Valladolid finalists the USA are all big threats too. But there is no denying the fact that there is a Black Ferns Sevens-shaped shadow looming.
“They play with such freedom, they’re an amazing team, and they’re strong,” Shave said of the team that won five out of six of the regular-season stops. “We also play with a lot of freedom, but maybe a bit more structure. Both teams have very, very strong attributes, and that’s why it’s always such a great rivalry.”
With 20 points going to the winner and 18 to the runner-up, it could all come down to points difference between the two teams that have dominated the women’s season.
And there’s some cautiously optimistic injury news out of the Australia camp. Maddison Levi, one of three nominees for the Women’s SVNS Player of the Year in partnership with HSBC award, missed the final day in Valladolid with injury and playmaker Hinds pulled out of the final, Shave suggested, “at this point we think they should be back”.
Great news for an Australian side fully focused on completing a memorable heist.
“I feel like if we just go out and do what we did last weekend, we definitely deserve to have another shot in the grand final,” Shave said, with a quiet smile.