The quarter-finals for round one of the Women’s Sevens Series have been decided after a thrilling day one in the Dubai heat.
Australia are on top of the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series seedings after three wins on day one of the first round in Dubai, with their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand just behind them in second, England in third and USA in fourth.
The quarter-final draw will see Australia play Fiji, New Zealand play Russia, England take on France while USA, who impressed in the Dubai heat, will play their neighbours Canada on day two at 7he Sevens stadium on Friday.
The day’s bowl semi-finals will see South Africa face China and Spain take on Brazil.
Pool B saw wins for Australia against South Africa, France and Spain, the defending champions conceding just 10 points over the three matches at 7he Sevens stadium. New Zealand remained unbeaten in Pool A as they managed a win over China early in the day, followed by victories over USA and Russia. Pool C came down to a thriller at the end of the day, which saw England beat Canada 17-12 in a re-run of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 final. Earlier Canada had secured impressive wins over Brazil and Fiji, while England kept Fiji scoreless (26-0) and followed with a 29-10 win over Brazil.
USA speedster Victoria Folayan was the day’s top scorer with 35 points, coming from seven tries.
One of the standout games from Thursday’s action saw series champions New Zealand run close by a plucky USA side who were ahead for much of the Pool A match, before Sean Horan’s charges claimed the win, 24-19. The Kiwis, who face Russia in the quarter finals, could be without inspirational captain Sarah Goss on Friday after she left the field in the first half of their 29-12 win over Russia with a finger injury.
Speaking after the match, coach Sean Horan said: “We started well but we had a wake-up call against USA, they really threw everything at us.
“We’ve shown that we’ve got some depth, but you have to put things into perspective; we only had two girls on the field from the Rugby World Cup Sevens 18 months ago, so yeah, we have some work to do.”
With Olympic qualification on the line at the end of the series, England captain Abi Chamberlain knows the importance of a top four finish. Speaking after their victory against Canada, she said she was happy with her team’s performance on day one.
“We couldn’t hope for more. The target was three from three and we nailed it. Canada was our biggest challenge today and we are glad to win this one,” said Chamberlain.
All the action from round one of the Women’s Sevens Series in Dubai will again be streamed live on worldrugby.org on Friday, with some geo-blocking in place. The first cup quarter-final gets underway at 10:00 Local time (GMT +4).
Thursday 4th December 2014
2014/15 IRB Women’s Sevens World Series – Dubai
Canada 12 – 17 England
Fiji 21 – 12 Brazil
New Zealand 29 – 12 Russia
USA 61 – 0 China
Australia 39 – 0 Spain
France 24 – 7 South Africa
England 29 – 7 Brazil
Canada 47 – 5 Fiji
Russia 47 – 5 China
New Zealand 24 – 19 USA
Spain 17 – 17 South Africa
Australia 24 – 10 France
England 26 – 0 Fiji
Canada 26 – 10 Brazil
Russia 12 – 17 USA
New Zealand 43 – 0 China
Spain 0 – 31 France
Australia 36 – 0 South Africa
DAY 2 Matches – Friday 5th December 2014
2014/15 IRB Women’s Sevens World Series – Dubai
KICK OFF:10:00 Australia v Fiji – Cup Quarter Final
KICK OFF:10:22 USA v Canada – Cup Quarter Final
KICK OFF:10:44 England v France – Cup Quarter Final
KICK OFF:11:06 New Zealand v Russia – Cup Quarter Final
KICK OFF:13:08 South Africa v China – Bowl Semi Final
KICK OFF:13:30 Spain v Brazil – Bowl Semi Final
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