05/31/26 11:51:00
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05/31 11:49 CDT Australia stuns the No. 1 teams with comeback wins to sweep the
Valladolid Sevens
Australia stuns the No. 1 teams with comeback wins to sweep the Valladolid
Sevens
VALLADOLID, Spain (AP) --- Australia swept the Valladolid Sevens finals after
comeback wins over the No. 1-ranked teams in the rugby sevens world series on
Sunday.
The men won their first trophy since November 2022 in Hong Kong when they
overcame South Africa 26-19 in a sweltering Estadio Jose Zorrilla. The
Blitzboks had a last-gasp try ruled out by a forward pass.
The women comfortably handled the United States 27-14 in their final after
finally stopping New Zealand in the semifinals. New Zealand had won the last
five tournaments since February, beating Australia in the final every time.
Australia won without two of its best players with Maddison Levi and Tia Hinds
missing through injury, and take a two-point lead over New Zealand into the
world championship decider next weekend in Bordeaux, France.
The Australian teams celebrated their first title double since 2018 in Sydney.
The men were the bigger surprise. Even though they beat South Africa 24-14 in
pool play on Saturday, the Australians were still underdogs in the final.
South Africa made an ominous 14-0 start through converted tries by Shilton van
Wyk and Sebastiaan Jobb. But by halftime the score was level after Australia
scored on both wings through James Turner and Ethan McFarland, who broke
through two defenders each.
To start the second half, Australia captain Henry Hutchison made a try-saving
tackle on Tristan Leyds, who was then sin-binned for a cynical foul.
In his two-minute absence, Australia romped ahead 26-14 after tries by Ben
Dowling and Hutchison, the latter after a spectacular restart catch by a
leaping Aden Ekanayake above his head.
But then Turner was red-carded for a high tackle with about 90 seconds left.
South Africa rallied with a try by Gino Cupido, who then offloaded to van Wyk
for what appeared to be the try forcing extra time. But the try was scrubbed
after video replay showed Cupido's pass was forward.
South Africa is still favored to remain world champion next weekend as it has a
four-point lead over Argentina.
The New Zealand women will also be favored in Bordeaux. They blew a 26-14 lead
over Australia with three minutes to go in the semifinals.
Australia was pushed into New Zealand's half of the draw after losing to the
U.S. 14-10 in pool play for the first time in eight matches.
But the final was less dramatic. Huge miss-out passes by Australia exposed the
U.S. on the wings and Heidi Dennis scored two routine tries in their 22-7
halftime lead. Dennis was named the player of the final, though, thanks to two
outstanding try-saving tackles from behind on Alex Sedrick and Sereana Vulaono.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
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