Black Ferns Sevens star Tyla Nathan-Wong is "gutted" her 'Sevens Sisters' couldn't celebrate their World Cup win alongside their male counterparts. The NZ women trounced France 29-0 in the World Cup sevens final at San Francisco's AT&T Park on Sunday (NZT) to defend the title they won five years ago in Russia. Little more than 24 hours later, the All Blacks Sevens achieved the same feat, beating England 33-12 in the men’s final. Nathan-Wong said that nothing could take away the gloss off their victory, but she questioned World Rugby's decision to stage the two finals on separate days. "Gutted that we couldn't play alongside our men," Nathan-Wong told Newshub on Tuesday. "It would have been incredible to be out there, either before or after them. "Just to celebrate with them afterwards, given the year we have both had with Commonwealth gold and World Cup, it would have been cool to share that with them. "We caught the semi-final at the stadium against Fiji. What an amazing game that was, and we were cheering hard and yelling for them. "We were on our way to the airport when the final was played. We were all packed around a couple of iPhones and watched them play - so proud of them to get the back-to-back." Nathan-Wong hopes the schedule will a men’s and women’s double feature in future tournaments. The 24-year-old missed out on celebrating with her teammates when they won Commonwealth Games gold on the Gold Coast earlier this year. Nathan-Wong suffered an injury during warm-ups and spent the final in an ambulance. But there were no such let-downs in San Francisco, as she played a pivotal role in New Zealand's runaway success. The Aucklander said the winning culture within the side had taken two years to create since a heartbreaking loss to Australia in the Rio Olympic final. "It's incredible what we have been able to achieve this last couple years," Nathan-Wong said. "This team is amazing. "That [Rio] was pretty tough. We had a bit of a management shift. "Our assistant coach from Rio [Allan Bunting] is now our head coach and he has created such an incredible culture within our team. "Everyone buys into it and that’s the big thing. We are all there for each other and we have each other's backs, no matter what. "That trust in our team is big and it gets shown out on the field through our performance. "[Sarah Goss] leads by example really well. We have a really good leadership group and we all work together." The team now has a six-week break before heading back into camp ahead of the IRB World Series circuit, which kicks off in October in the United States.<doc-sep>England sealed a spot in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup Sevens after a dramatic extra-time 24-19 victory against hosts USA. Meanwhile, the women made up for the disappointment of losing in the opening round of the main tournament to win the Challenge trophy with victory over Japan. The men will now focus on a date with reigning World Series champions South Africa for a place in the final, with their last-four contest taking place this evening at 8.40pm BST. Ever the optimists, the Californian locals refer to sudden death as 'sudden victory', but it was the English who snatched the win through a try from Phil Burgess, a veteran of the Sevens programme, who took advantage of a sumptuous cross-field kick from captain Tom Mitchell. England’s two other try scorers Dan Norton and Ollie Lindsay-Hague gave Mitchell much credit for the 'sudden victory'. "We need to give Mitch a bit of credit. He has pretty much won us that game with his kick – full credit to our captain for that,” said Lindsay-Hague. “Not too much credit!” joked Norton!<doc-sep>America’s women fell in the semifinals of their own Rugby World Cup Sevens, losing an entertaining game to New Zealand at AT&T Park in San Francisco, 26-21, after leading 14-12 at halftime. The men followed them out of the competition, losing their quarter-final to England 24-19 in sudden-death overtime. In the women’s event New Zealand went on to face France, surprise conquerors of the world series champions, Australia, in the final on Saturday evening. New Zealand won that game at a canter, 29-0, to be crowned World Cup champions. The USA and Australia met before that, in the bronze medal playoff. The Eagles wing Naya Tapper scored two tries – reaching seven in the tournament – but the Australians ran out 24-14 winners. Before meeting the US in the last four the Black Ferns had not conceded a point. They duly went ahead with a slashing try from Michaela Blyde, who ended the tournament the leading scorer with nine. Two tries by Tapper turned the scoreboard around, the second involving a neat step past Portia Woodman, one of the leading players in the world game. As American errors and infringements increased, Ruby Tui, Gayle Broughton and Woodman scored the next three tries, Tui and Broughton from long range, securing New Zealand’s passage to the final. The USA fly-half Lauren Doyle got up from a tackle for a smart try that closed the gap to five as the clock ticked to zero. In the other semifinal, Australia led France 12-0 at halftime, then conceded three tries, the last by Anne-Cecile Ciofani, who scooted around Emma Tonegato on the final play. Chloe Pelle and Fanny Horta had earlier lifted France back into the game. In the first half, Australia’s Evania Pelite scored a fine solo try to take her tournament tally to five and Ellia Green scored the second after Marjorie Mayans had been shown a yellow card for a deliberate knockdown. Martin Iosefo of the United States looks to evade a tackle against England. Photograph: Lachlan Cunningham/World Rugby via Getty Images The Australian men’s team were also upset by France, in the first round on Friday, leaving them to play for minor placings. In the men’s quarter-finals on Saturday, South Africa crushed Scotland 36-5 and Fiji strolled past Argentina 43-7. New Zealand then had a narrow in over the French, 12-7, before the USA and England played a thriller. Captain Madison Hughes put the Eagles ahead after a pass by Maka Unufe, before two England tries made it 12-7 at the half, both by Dan Norton, the second a video referee call. Ollie Lindsay-Hague put England 19-7 up straight from the kickoff for the second seven-minute half before Folau Niua and world player of the year Perry Baker hauled the USA back to 19-19. The decisive try for England came from Phil Burgess, after a kick by captain Tom Mitchell. The USA will now face Scotland in a placings game on Sunday, the best they can finish now fifth. England will play South Africa in one semifinal while New Zealand and Fiji play the other.<doc-sep>Catch up with all the action from a thrilling day one at AT&T Stadium as Fiji, the All Blacks and the US power into quarter-finals<doc-sep>
Both the men’s and women’s Eagles Sevens have started in confident fashion at the Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco on Friday, with the women’s Eagles winning twice to progress to the semi-final stage. The men’s Eagles opened their tournament in imposing fashion, beating Wales 35-0 in their round of 16 clash to set up a quarter-final showdown with fourth-ranked England. Martin Iosefo opened the scoring after finding a gap from a 5m lineout, before Iosefo turned provider to send Perry Baker on his way for try number two. The rapid winger and 2017 World Rugby Sevens player of the year then had too much gas for the Eagles’ third try, before Stephen Tomasin fired offloads to send in Danny Barrett and Carlin Isles to ensure a comfortable scoreline. “We were waiting around all day to play that match but as soon as we got out there we were ready to go,” said captain Madison Hughes. “We were ready to work for each other and that attitude we brought I think was really important and that is what helped us win. We don’t get many opportunities to play in front of our friends, family and home support so it feels really good to do so.” Earlier, the women’s Eagles made light work of twelfth-ranked China, winning their round of 16 clash 38-7, before coming through a trickier quarter-final against Russia, 33-17. Carlin Isles leaves four Welshmen behind. Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP The women’s Eagles had to rebuff a determined Russia with just six players on the field after captain Nicole Heavirland was penalised and sent to the “sin bin” for two minutes. They demonstrated the growing strength of the women’s sevens game as they held off the fourth-ranked Russian side, without Rio Olympic topscorer Alev Kelter who remains injured. Naya Tapper got the first two tries for the home side who pushed out to a 21-7 lead when Abby Gustaitis crossed. But after Heavirland’s yellow card Russia reduced the deficit to just four. Ilona Maher and Cheta Emba ensuring the result with second-half tries to ensure a more comfortable scoreline at the end. The women’s Eagles take on defending World Cup Sevens champions New Zealand on Saturday in their quest to reach a first-ever World Cup final.