Commonwealth Games 2018: NZ win first women’s rugby sevens gold

New Zealand made history Sunday, beating fierce rivals and host nation Australia 17-12 in extra-time to win gold in the first ever women’s rugby sevens tournament at the Commonwealth Games.

The world’s No. 1 ranked team, who beat England 26-5 in the semifinals earlier in the day, have been impressive throughout the tournament and after tries from Portia Woodman and Michela Byde the Kiwis led at half-time 12-0.

But roared on by the home crowd, the Aussies fought back in the second half.

A try from co-captain Emilee Cherry got them back into the contest and with a minute remaining on the clock, Ellia Green used her blistering pace to level the scores.

READ: Does the Commonwealth Games have a future?

Australia could have gone ahead in the final few seconds of the match but they missed their conversion kick.

Deep into overtime, Australia then won possession and looked to have an opportunity for one last attack, but instead Cassie Staples kicked the ball into touch taking the game into extra-time.

It was a decision that would prove costly.

In extra time New Zealand's Kelly Brazier breaks through the Australian defense to score the winning try and win gold for Australia.

Knowing that the first score would end the game, extra-time started in a scrappy fashion. With the searing heat bearing down on the players and tiredness showing on both sides, there were fumbles and plenty of other errors.

It looked as if the game would need one more period of extra-time to decide the contest, but then Kelly Brazier of New Zealand took possession close to her own goal line.

The 28-year-old shimmied past one player, dropped her shoulder to move past the next, and accelerated away, leaving three Australian defenders in her slipstream.

“I’m probably not the quickest, but I pride myself on my fitness. Obviously it was 19 minutes in so I had a bit of a look around and thought it’s now or nothing, so just went for it,” Brazier told New Zealand website Stuff.co.nz after the game.

“I had a few chasing but just thought I’m gonna go and it paid off in the end.”

New Zealand were leading 12-0 at the half, before an Australian fightback forced the game into extra-time.

Running nearly the entire length of the field she made the historic try, collapsing in exhaustion at the goal line as her teammates piled on top of her to celebrate.

“All I could feel was my lungs going up and down in the air. I was just worried about trying to catch my breath back and then the girls just jumped on top of me so it made it a bit hard to breathe. So I was just trying to breathe, that was it,” Brazier added.

New Zealand celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's rugby sevens at the Robina Stadium.

Host nation Australia qualified for the semi-finals on Sunday with a hard fought and hard hitting 17-10 win over Fiji.

Australia will face Canada in the semi finals while Fiji will compete against Samoa in a 5-8 placing game.

England also qualified for the semi finals with an emphatic 45-0 win over the Welsh.

The English will take on world champions New Zealand in their semi final on Sunday. Wales will play Kenya in their placing 5-8 match.

Kenya warmed up for that match with Wales by recording their first win of the Games, defeating South Africa 19-10.

World champions New Zealand remain the team to beat as they steamrolled Canada 24-7.

Canada with have to get past Australia in their semi final Sunday if they are to have a chance of meeting the Kiwis again in the final.

On Friday, Canada's Caroline Crossley made history by becoming the first women to score a try in a Commonwealth Games rugby sevens match, setting her country on its way to a 29-0 win over South Africa.

Women's rugby is making its Commonwealth Games debut in Australia and Canada, ranked third in the world, laid down an early marker with a dominant display.

Defending world champions New Zealand put down their marker as the team to beat with a 45-0 win over Kenya in Friday's second match.

As well as being defending world champions, the Kiwis also won the 2016-17 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.

England defeated Fiji 17-5 in a closely fought match up in the third game on Friday.

With the scores level at half time, two late tries added gloss to a scoreline which flattered England.

Host nation Australia also got off to a great start with a 34-5 victory over Wales.

On home soil, the Aussies will fancy their chances of being the team to take New Zealand's crown.

The Canadian team made it two wins from two matches, with their second victory coming against Kenya.

Canada finished Friday top of Group A and level on points with world champions New Zealand.

New Zealand put in another awesome display in their second match against South Africa, running away 41-0 winners.

The Fijians bounced back from their first game loss against England with a 29-7 win over Wales.

In Saturday's final match, Australia defeated England in a thrilling match. Going into half time it looked as though the English would hang onto the lead, before the Aussies scored an overtime try.

In the second half, the home nation proved their class, shutting out the English and eventually winning comprehensively 29-12.

Commonwealth Games 2018: Women's Rugby Sevens Highlights

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Both teams were in tears at the end, some from ecstasy, some from despair. It was a thrilling end to an exciting tournament that is likely to only help continue to promote and grow women’s rugby sevens.