Michaela Blyde's hat-trick helps New Zealand's women retain World Cup Sevens title

New Zealand's Black Ferns sealed their status as the dominant force in women's rugby on Saturday in San Francisco, successfully defending their World Cup Sevens crown less than a year after winning the 15-a-side title.

Michaela Blyde was the star for the New Zealanders with a hat-trick as France were crushed 29-0 in a one-sided final at AT&T Park.

Blyde's treble took her tally to the tournament to nine tries, crowning a superb weekend for the 22-year-old, the reigning women's world sevens player of the year.

"To be able to do that in a rugby World Cup final is incredible, unforgettable," said Blyde.

"But I wouldn't be able to do it without the girls who are out on the field with me.

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"They're the workhorses who create the space on the outside for me to do what I do."

The victory follows New Zealand's victory in the women's 15-a-side World Cup last year, as well as their gold medal in the Commonwealth Games sevens competition in April.

New Zealand are also the first team to win the back-to-back women's World Sevens titles after their win in Moscow in 2013.

"We've made history now, so we're pretty happy with ourselves," Blyde said.

France, who had earlier stunned Olympic champions Australia to reach the final for the first time, were never in contention.

Blyde opened the scoring in the final for New Zealand, who weathered some ferocious French tackling before cutting loose.

New Zealand captain Sarah Goss set up a second try for Portia Woodman before Tyla Nathan-Wong's clever run made it 15-0 at the break.

Blyde added two more converted scores after the interval as New Zealand completed a superb campaign which saw them register three shutouts in four games.

Their toughest game came in the semi-finals earlier Saturday, when they were pushed all the way in a 26-21 win over the United States.

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UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Schedule:

Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore

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Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017

Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free

Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa

Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia

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Director: Simon Curtis

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Rating: 4/5

THE DETAILS

Deadpool 2

Dir: David Leitch

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Justin Dennison, Zazie Beetz

Four stars

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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
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7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
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THE%20STRANGERS'%20CASE

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