New Zealand’s Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (L) tries to break the tackle of Canada’s Julia Greenshields (C) during their match on the second day at the Hong Kong Sevens. Photo: photosport
New Zealand's men's and women's teams are both unbeaten at the Hong Kong Sevens and will contest semi-finals on Sunday afternoon.
Playing on the spiritual home of rugby's abbreviated game, the Black Ferns Sevens and All Blacks Sevens rose to the occasion to set up semi-final showdowns - both against Australia.
The women's match has major implications for the World Series, with Australia holding a four-point advantage over New Zealand, who have closed the gap after picking up wins at the last two tournaments in Vancouver and Los Angeles.
With just tournaments in Singapore and Madrid remaining, Australia can take a big step towards winning the eight-leg world series with a victory in Sunday's clash.
They will have to overcome a Black Ferns side playing impressively, wrapping up an unbeaten pool campaign by beating Brazil 33-7 on Saturday before whitewashing Canada 26-5 in the quarter-finals.
Shiray Kaka crossed twice in the first half to set up the win over the well-beaten Canadians - matching her two-try display against Brazil.
The All Blacks Sevens are out of contention to defend their series title after failing to reach the knockout phase in Los Angeles, but have found form in Hong Kong.
New Zealand’s Xavier Tito-Harris (L) scores a try against the USA during their match on the second day at the Hong Kong Sevens. Photo: photosport
After completing their pool duties with a tight 12-7 defeat of the United States, New Zealand produced a scintillating finish to see off Fiji in the quarter-finals.
Trailing 12-7 late in the match, they conjured a try to Xavier Tito Harris to level the scores before Tone Ng Shiu scored the winner in the final play of the game.
