New Zealand rugby pride was propped by the win of the Kiwi women in Japan at the Kitakyushu sevens in Japan.
The dramatic victory over Canada was the result of a try scored by Michaela Blyde during added time in the second half. They beat the Canucks 17 – 14.
The win not only secured the title in Kitakyushu, but also extended New Zealand’s lead in the World Sevens Series going into the final two rounds.
Blyde took best possible advantage of the Canadian fumble of a kickoff as they were trying to run the clock up 14 – 12 with only seconds remaining.
The Canadians struck first in the middle of the first half, but New Zealand tied at seven before the end of the first half when Niall Williams gathered a loose ball and ran in under the posts in added time, setting up Tyla Nathan-Wong with a head-on conversion.
Canada resumed the lead when Ghislaine Landry scored a try in the right-hand corner, and then slotted the wide conversion to give Canada a 14 – 7 lead.
Portia Woodman narrowed the margin with a brilliant try, but the mood turned desperate when Nathan-Wong was wide on the conversion.
The New Zealanders had earlier taken out the vaunted Fiji side with a 21 – 0 win in the semifinal.