New Zealand women have defended their Hong Kong Sevens title, beating Australia 19-14 in the final at Kai Tak Stadium.

The Black Ferns have now been crowned champions for four straight years.

They stormed out of the gate in Sunday's final with two converted tries, courtesy of Mahina Paul and Jorja Miller, and did not look back.

They had one more try in the second half by Kelsey Teneti.

Australia scored a try with less than a minute to go, but it was too little, too late.

New Zealand's Risaleaana Pouri-Lane, who converted the first two tries, was named player of the match.

"I felt a lot of joy and relief at the same time," she told RTHK after the match.

"We may have won the last few years but there's always things that we can work on, and so to come out here and put it together, it's an awesome feeling, and it takes a lot of heart and a lot of grit to turn up every single time."

She also said Hong Kong has been an "awesome" experience for her team.

"For our girls who haven't experienced the Hong Kong Sevens before, it's an amazing experience for them," she added.

The same two teams played in the final in Hong Kong a year ago and New Zealand came out on top as well.


Edited by Edmond Fong