USA upset Australia to end Trans-Tasman Women's Cup Final streak in Valladolid

The United States ended a defining streak at the SVNS World Championship in Valladolid on Saturday, defeating Australia 14-10 to break up what had been an all-Trans-Tasman Women’s Cup Final run. The result means Australia and New Zealand will instead meet in the semi-finals at Estadio José Zorrilla on Sunday.

Kaylen Thomas and Sariah Ibarra crossed for the USA’s tries, with Ibarra’s accurate goal-kicking proving decisive. Australia’s Maddison and Teagan Levi both touched down, and Levi’s late try reduced the deficit to a single score with time remaining, but an error off the lineout ended any hope of a comeback. The USA finished top of Pool B.

Australia co-captain Isabella Nasser identified ball retention as the key failing. “USA are a really quality side. We always have really good matchups against them and it probably just came down to our ill-discipline around holding onto the ball and respecting the ball,” she said. “We gave USA a bit too much possession and then they got up on us.”

New Zealand, meanwhile, moved through pool play with a perfect 3-0 record. The Black Ferns Sevens — who claimed five Cup Final wins during the regular season — defeated a previously unbeaten Japan side on Saturday before beating hosts Spain 33-7 in the quarter-finals.

The two southern hemisphere rivals have produced some of the season’s most memorable moments, including a dramatic SVNS New York Cup Final in which Kelsey Teneti and Katelyn Vahaakolo engineered a comeback before captain Risi Pouri-Lane landed the match-winning conversion.

Nasser acknowledged the weight of Sunday’s semi-final. “It’ll be a semi-final rather than a Grand Final so it’ll be a battle of who’s getting into that Cup,” she said. “We’ve gone really, really close against them in Hong Kong and New York so we’ve got plenty of takeaways from those games. We’re ready to put some things into practice tomorrow.”

Australia’s only Cup title of the 2025/26 campaign came at SVNS Cape Town in December, while New Zealand’s dominance across the regular season has made them the clear benchmark heading into the championship rounds.