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SVNS star Bienne Terita shines bright during Australia’s perfect start
By Finn Morton
It only took Australian sevens youngster Bienne Terita about 30 seconds to score against South Africa at Perth’s HBF Park on Friday afternoon. Blink and you would’ve missed it.
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Right off the kick-off, and with the pressure of the Aussies’ home crowd watching on, the Dubai and Cape Town SVNS champions spread the ball wide left for their 20-year-old winger.
With a couple of right-hand fends, the speedster was off. Terita ran about 60 metres to the house for the opening score of the contest – and the Aussies never looked back.
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It was the perfect start for the hometown favourites. That score set the tone for the utterly emphatic 31-nil victory over the newly-promoted South African side.
“It’s pretty cool to play in front of a home crowd in front of friends and family,” Terita told reporters.
“We knew that we needed the right start for the rest of the tournament so really good to get the win in the first game.”
There’s no denying that Terita, who was once described as “world-class” after starring on international duty with the Wallaroos, has superstar potential.
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With Maddison Levi missing the first three games in Perth after being red carded in the Cape Town SVNS final last month, Terita has stepped up in the absence of arguably the world’s best player on current form.
“Maddy Levi is pretty big shoes to fill,” Levi said.
“The girls have made my job pretty easy and I feel like I’ve slipped in quite seamlessly.
“I’m a winger so probably just my repeat efforts,” she added when asked about what she wants to improve. “You see Maddy Levi do it all the time with 80-metre tris, one after the other.”
12 months ago at the Sydney Sevens, Australia fell short of expectations with a quarter-final exit against France. It was a shock to all, and their arch-rivals New Zealand made the most of it.
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The Black Ferns Sevens marched on to Cup final glory at Allianz Stadium. But, finally, Australia have their chance at redemption.
“There definitely is pressure, I think we saw that last year at the Sydney Sevens.
“This tournament we’ve been trying to stay focused on the performance bubble… sticking to our core group of girls, everyone that’s helped along the way to get us here today.
“Just trying to block is all out and stay focused on our job.”
