A quirk in the draw at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens on Saturday saw New Zealand beat Brazil twice in a row to set up a Sunday semi-final against Canada, a repeat of last summer’s Paris Olympics gold medal match.
The Hong Kong draw has still, more logically, kept the Black Ferns on track to meet Australia in a final many hoped to see at Kai Tak Stadium on Sunday.
The New Zealanders saw off Brazil for the second time by 31-17, while Australia recorded a 35-5 win over USA and will face France in the last four.
“We know Canada is going to be a tough one,” said Mahina Paul, scorer of the Black Ferns’ fifth and final try of the match.
“We know Canada always show up when we play, but we talk a lot about just sticking to what we do and not worrying about every other team like that.”
Australia’s Maddison Levi (left) evades a USA tackle. Photo: Sam Tsang
Hours before they met in the last eight, New Zealand saw off the Brazilians 29-17 in the final Pool A fixture, a result that meant the South Americans qualified for the quarter-final as the second-best third-placed team.