Olympic Sevens, Women - Day Two
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Defending champions New Zealand, fellow favourites Australia, France and the US all qualified for the quarterfinals on Sunday in a historic day for women’s rugby.
A sell-out crowd of 69,000 packed into the Stade de France to make it the best-ever attended women’s event in the sport.
* Below we bring you all the drama from the women’s Day One at the iconic Stade de France.
Monday, July 29:
Semifinals
The New Zealand Black Ferns have a date with the USA Eagles while the Canadian Maple Leafs take on the Australian Wallabies to cap off a stellar day two of the Paris Olympic Sevens.
Quarterfinals
New Zealand 55 – 5 China
A ‘David and Goliath’ affair was had between the courageous Chinese and the mighty New Zealanders. The Black Ferns struck first before China could get a score of their own through Dou to stay in the match. The tie wouldn’t last long as New Zealand began to rev their engine. A skillful Miller assist to Felix-Hotham followed by a team-effort to turnover the ball from a counter-ruck for Blyde to get a third try would be all the breathing space needed for New Zealand to forge ahead. China would not see the try-line again as New Zealand looked to turn the screws in the second half to reach a remarkable points tally of over fifty points to advance to the semifinals.
Great Britain 7 – 17 USA
A well-matched contest saw Great Britain and the USA going at it. Great Britain started out the blocks first with Boatman leading the charge. The USA would put their speedsters to work from there as Tapper first came racing down the wing to even the game followed by the likes of Kirshe and Sullivan to deal the killer blows. Great Britain stayed in the fight until the end in what was a pulsating game but too many handling errors cost them valuable try-scoring opportunities while the USA will feel that their peak is still ahead of them going into the semifinals.
France 14 – 19 Canada
The Canadians were given the daunting task of taking on the French with the home crowd roaring their team on. Canada were able to weather an early storm with the entire first half being played in their own 22m. Piper Logan would momentarily silence the crowd with a pick up from the scrum to race the length of the field for a Canadian try before France could take the lead in the second half with tries coming from Jason and Yengo. Piper Logan would strike again from the scrum as she carried her team forward to even up the game with a couple minutes left on the clock. In an extraordinary final moments of the game, Chloe Daniels would dart around the ruck to score in the corner to upset France in stunning fashion as Canada overcome the hosting nation.
Australia 40 – 7 Ireland
The final semifinal of the day was a rematch of epic proportions between the Australians and the Irish. Australia rumbled their way through the first half with the prolific Levi sisters running Ireland ragged with Madison swiftly getting her hat-trick before Nathan and Nasser could follow up with scores of their own. It would take five unanswered tries for Ireland to get onto the scoreboard with Stacey Flood dashing for the corner but the game was done and dusted from there. Terita would get the cherry on top for Australia for the last try of the game as they go back to back over the Irish to emerge as serious favorites to go all the way.
Ninth-place semifinals
Japan 15 – 12 South Africa
The first ninth-place semifinal was a bruising encounter between the Brave Blossoms and the Blitzboks with both teams treating this game as if it were for the gold. The South Africans were off to races first with Janse van Rensburg scoring again for her team from a dart into corner at the breakdown. Hara would get one back for Japan after finding the gap in midfield on the switch-pass before the tackle-breaking Roos could get South Africa’s second try at the halftime siren. South Africa would hold the lead with a minute left to go but a magical passage of play from Kajiki scoring a brace in quick succession would ensure Japan’s victory while South Africa will feel that they let the game slip away.
Fiji 22 – 28 Brazil
A blockbuster game was had between these two teams. The Brazilians got off to a sensational start scoring three tries in the first half courtesy of Lima running in a brace as well as the team’s talisman in Thalia Costa who surprisingly got over the try-line for the first time on day two. Fiji would stay in contention running in two tries and picking up a yellow card for their efforts going into halftime. The second half is where this game lit up going right down to wire as Fiji pulled back two tries to lead by a point with time left for one more kick-off. Brazil would get pinned onto their own 5m before a moment of brilliance by Soares to step inside and then out to round the defender and speed down the touchline to score a match-winning coast to coast try.
Pool Games
New Zealand 38 – 7 Fiji
New Zealand put on an absolutely dismantling performance against Fiji making it look like light work as they emerge top of their pool. The Black Ferns showed relentless defense from the start which resulted in their first try courtesy of Jorja Miller regathering possession close to the try-line. Further scores from Felix-Hotham, Blyde, Nuku as well as a brace from Stacey Waaka would leave the Fijians stunned with a yellow card in the game not helping their cause. Fiji managed to get the last say of the match with a try coming from Buleki to deny New Zealand a clean sheet but will need to take a hard look at themselves and see how they will replicate past performances from the season to get back into the winning column.
Canada 26 – 17 China
This was a highly-anticipated match between two teams that performed well on the opening day of the tournament. Both teams were neck and neck with China dealing the first blow through Chen before Williams broke the line to speed away for a Canadian try. Canada went into the second half with the advantage thanks to a Symonds try before the break with everything still to play for. China would score first in the second half with a well-weighted grubber kick which sat up perfectly for Lui to make things close but another runaway try for Williams would seal the victory for Canada to keep their name in the conversation as top contenders.
France 31 – 14 USA
The home team took on the Eagles in a thrilling encounter that took the winner to the top of Pool C. The USA opened their account first with Maher putting in a great stiff-arm to sit the defender down on her way to the try-line. France knew they had to give the crowd something to cheer for which Okemba obliged to score two tries in the corner as three points separated the two teams at halftime. France began to shift gears in the second half capitalizing on a USA yellow card with Okempa being their star player running in four tries in total to ensure that her team finished top of their pool while USA will be licking their wounds with both teams securing a spot in the play-offs.
Japan 39 – 12 Brazil
Japan brought the fire to Brazil as they came out guns blazing to lead the game by four unanswered tries notably with Tsutsumi carving the defense to score a brace. Thalita Costa would be the one to intervene for her team to score a try before halftime as Brazil needed a big second half performance. Brazil would score their second try but it would be no match for Japan’s exceptional handling skills which rewarded them with seven tries in the match to keep their play-off hopes alive while Brazil will feel disappointment in the result with all the progress that they’ve made this season.
Australia 19 – 14 Ireland
An interesting contest was had between these two well-drilled teams. Australia struck first through Faith Nathan who stepped off the left-foot to cut through the defense and run half the length of the field. Higgins would pull one back for Ireland to even the playing field before Australia could score their second try with Tegan Levi speeding down the wing before a break in play. Madison Levi would follow in her sister’s footstep to score Australia’s third try leaving Ireland a mountain of work to get through to stay in the match. The Irish would leave it late to score their second try with Higgins getting her brace with seconds left to play as Australia kept their nerve off the restart to kick the ball into touch and hang on for an important victory.
Great Britain 26 – 17 South Africa
South Africa were off to a dream start on day two of the competition. Great Britain were rattled from the kick-off as they struggled to hold onto possession in their 22m as South Africa pounced on the errors to run in two tries through Janse Van Rensburg and the ever-present Roos. Great Britain would eventually get their act right to get a try of their own with Crompton scoring before halftime after a South African mistake off the restart. It would be a valiant effort from South Africa going toe to toe with their opponents to stay in the game until the end but a brace from Joyce in the second half would be enough for Great Britain to get the victory and survive an early scare.
