The Australia Women’s Sevens team were left gutted after a 29-7 defeat to New Zealand in the Final.
The Kiwis blew the game open right after the break and proved too physically for the hosts, who were gunning for back-to-back titles in Perth.
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“I thought New Zealand had a cracker game,” coach Tim Walsh said, paying credit to New Zealand as they claimed their first tournament win in Western Australia.
“They’re one step ahead of us at the moment, so they're putting out something last week, and then adjusting all the things, and we're playing a little bit of catch-up, so hopefully by the finals, they might have run out of cards to play, and we'll have to do our best later.”
The Australians were well in the contest when Heidi Dennis burned her defender and scored the opener.
This was instantly answered by Jorja Miller, breaking several tackles and offloading for Stacey Wakka to level the scores.
Player of the Match Kelsey Teneti only furthered their advantage right before the break, giving them a 12-7 half-time lead.
A controversial call that ruled Maddison Levi out inside the Kiwi 22 despite footage suggesting otherwise was punished further when Teneti raced clear for her second.
Black Ferns star Katelyn Vahaakolo delivered the dagger in the last two minutes, latching onto a flat ball to score under the posts.
Alena Saili finished the dominant second half off as co-captain Bella Nasser lamented the lost moments.
“We probably threw the first moment at them and Heidi scored that unbelievable try but it's just a matter of being able to stay in it,” Nasser said.
“They're a real quality side and it's something we'll go back home and work on real hard to go back again in Vancouver and New York.”
It's New Zealand's third title of the 2025-26 Series, having claimed victory last week in Singapore.
New Zealand 29 def Australia 7 (Tries: Dennis, Cons: Hinds 1/1)
