The New Zealand women’s rugby team galloped into the Olympic sevens final with a comprehensive 25-7 semi-final victory over Great Britain.
Sarah Goss’s New Zealand side will now meet Australia, who eased past Canada 17-5.
The New Zealanders really struggled to beat the United States 5-0 in the quarter-finals, but any qualms among New Zealand supporters were eased by the polished display in the semis.
New Zealand scored five tries and conceded just one, though their cause was helped by Great Britain having two players sent to the sin bin within 15 seconds of each other a tick before halftime. Not surprisingly, New Zealand fully exploited the seven on five advantage and scored two tries while the playing odds were weighted in their favour.
For New Zealand, quicksilver Portia Woodman continued her record of having scored in every match at the Olympics, this time running in three tries. Other New Zealand tries were scored by Huriana Manuel and Ruby Tui. Goss made some particularly effective tackles.
There was not a large crowd at the match, but the sprinkling of New Zealand fans there made their presence felt.
At one point there was a chant of “All Blacks, All Blacks” and at times it did indeed seem as if the mighty All Blacks were playing.
The winner of the New Zealand-Australia final will win the first Olympic rugby gold medal awarded for 92 years.