Related items

• Heartbreak for Jamaican trio as Vixens edge Fever 73-72 to book final date with Thunderbirds

  It was heartbreak for Jamaica’s Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, Shanice Beckford, and Kadie-Ann Dehaney as West Coast Fever narrowly missed out on making the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) League grand final following a nail-biting 72-73 loss to Melbourne Vixens in the preliminary final at the John Cain Arena on Saturday.

  Fowler-Nembhard, who enjoyed superb form throughout the season, scored 60 goals from 62 attempts, including four two-goal Super Shot efforts, while Beckford scored four goals from four attempts, and Alice Teague-Neeld scored two goals from two attempts and three from the Super Shot line.

  However, it was not enough to deny the Vixens, who got their goals from Sophie Garbin, who scored 40 goals from 40 attempts, and Kiera Austin, who had 33 goals from 32 attempts, including four from the two-goal Super shot line.

  With the win, the Vixens have booked themselves a date with reigning champions Adelaide Thunderbirds in next week's grand final.

  In what was a keenly contested encounter, West Coast Fever showed first, with Dehaney getting her hands onto the ball early. 
  
  The Fever defensive pressure suffocated the Vixens attack, allowing the Perth-based team to establish a five-goal lead before the home side were able to settle their nerves. The Vixens clawed back the deficit to make it a one-goal game at 18-19 heading into the second quarter.

  There was nothing to separate the teams in the second quarter, as they exchanged 19 goals apiece in pulsating end-to-end action, but the Fever remained one-goal ahead at 38-37 at half-time. 

  Though the Fever upped the tempo with consistent defensive pressure at the top of the third quarter, they later lost momentum as the Vixens came to live and outscored their opponents 20-14 to take a 57-52 leading heading into the final quarter.

  The Vixens maintained the momentum at the top of the final quarter and even extended their lead at one point.

  However, with their usual never-say-die response, the Fever produced a late rally through Fowler-Nembhard and Teague-Neeld, who both scored a few Super Shots in the dying minutes. But too late was the cry as the Vixens held firm for the one-goal win and more importantly, gets a another shot at the Thunderbirds, who hammered them in the major semi-final.

• Paris Olympics: Home hero Dupont sends France into rugby sevens semi-finals

  Antoine Dupont sealed hosts France's progression to the rugby sevens semi-finals as his late try clinched victory over Argentina at the Paris Olympics.

  Dupont, voted the 2021 World Player of the Year, missed out on this year's Six Nations to prepare himself for the sevens at the Games.

  And he scored a brilliant solo try in the dying seconds at a jam-packed Stade de France to wrap up a 26-14 triumph over Argentina on Thursday.

  Aaron Grandidier had earlier crossed the line twice along with back-rower Andy Timo's opener in a dominant first half, though Argentina fought back after the break.

  Rodrigo Isgro responded for Los Pumas before Marcos Moneta sneaked over after France were reduced to six when Jordan Sepho was sin-binned.

  Yet home favourite Dupont stepped up in the decisive moment, whipping the crowd into frenzy after setting up a last-four meeting against South Africa, who overcame New Zealand in the quarter-finals.

  South Africa finished third in Pool A as New Zealand topped the group, but the Springboks exacted revenge against the All Blacks to secure a semi-final berth.

  The Springboks raced into a two-try lead before holding out for a 14-7 victory to stun one of the pre-tournament favourites.

  Fiji, champions in 2016 when the event was first introduced and four years later in Tokyo, unexpectedly found themselves up against it as Chay Mullins bundled over twice to snatch a 10-7 lead for Ireland at half-time.

  Zac Ward extended the Irish lead but two tries in less than 30 seconds from Selestino Ravutaumada and Terio Tamani snatched a 19-15 turnaround.

  The two-time Olympic champions will meet Australia after the Wallabies downed the United States with ease.

  Corey Toole and James Turner both crossed in the first half en route to a convincing 18-0 triumph in the final match of the day, sending Australia into their first rugby sevens semi-final at the Olympics.

• ‘She’s the greatest’: Fever’s coach Ryan praises Jamaican superstar Fowler-Nembhard

  Dan Ryan has never been shy about his admiration for Jamaican Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and so it comes as no surprise that the West Coach Fever head coach believes the towering goal shooter is the best to ever grace that position in netball history.

  Fowler-Nembhard celebrated her 35th birthday by putting on yet another shooting masterclass in the Fever’s Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) League minor semi-final victory over Sunshine Coast Lightning at the RAC Arena in Perth on Sunday.

  The five-time league MVP scored 67 goals from 69 attempts—the two missed chances being late Super Shot attempts—as the Fever downed the Sunshine Coast Lightning 72-62 to book a preliminary final date with Melbourne Vixens. 

  On the back of that performance, Fowler-Nembhard extended her lead atop the Nissan Net Points (1704.5) standings as well as the goals scored ladder, shooting her 880 goals with 96% accuracy.

  For Ryan, the Perth-based franchise could not have asked for a better first-choice goal shooter.

  “She’s the greatest goal shooter our game has ever seen,” Ryan declared. 

  “Because she has such high standards every single weekend, everyone has such incredibly high standards for her.  We’re so grateful that she’s in our team, and we have a real priority to ensure we get the best out of Jhaniele, with who sits in front of her,” he added.

  Beyond her scoring abilities, Ryan also praised Fowler-Nembhard’s leadership skills, which he pointed out often come to the fore when her compatriot and goal attack Shanice Beckford has an off-game. 

  “She’s been an incredible leader. The way she’s leading that front line, she’s happy to take a 2v1 if she needs to, and she’s backing in Shanice when she needs to. We’re seeing mum mode from Jhaniele out there, and we absolutely love it,” Ryan noted.

  

  Shanice Beckford

  Fowler-Nembhard’s perfect first half performance kept the Fever in touch with the Lightning, 16-18 at the end of the first quarter, before the 2022 champions put the foot down in the second half to keep their premiership hopes alive. 

  They outscored the Lightning 36-27 after the main break, had nine gains—eight of which they converted to goals—and five defensive rebounds to put an end to the Lightning’s season.

  The performance was much to the delight of Ryan, who believes the manner in which his team upped their tempo in the second half augurs well going into their next encounter.

  “We’ve been tracking really nicely over the last month and playing some great netball. We knew we were in a good spot heading into Sunday’s game, and we really wanted to make sure we found an extra gear,” Ryan reasoned.

  “The first half was a real grind and a real challenge, and we were certainly under the pump. I am really proud of the girls for the way they stuck at their jobs, and when the moments popped up in that second half, we took them. To win by ten in a do-or-die semi-final is an amazing result.” he shared.

  The Fever’s renewed form in winning their last four encounters, comes at the right time, following a mid-season wobble that saw them slip from the top of the standings into third place at the end of regular season play.

  Those off colour mid-season games, Ryan said, have served as motivation for his side, which is now aiming to possibly carry their rich vein of form all the way to the grand final against reigning champions Adelaide Thunderbirds.

  But first, West Coast Fever will have to get past the Vixens on their return to John Cain Arena this Saturday. 

  “Our team has been on a really important journey across the season, and we always connect back to the mid part of the season where we went win-loss-win-loss for a while,” Ryan stated. 

  “The learnings we were getting out of those moments were invaluable, and we’ve got great confidence now in these pressure games. We’re really grateful for another opportunity to play netball under finals pressure; we know we’re in great form and we’re going to be really hard to beat at our best,” he ended.