Defending champions New Zealand, HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series leaders USA, Australia, Canada, France and Spain were all victorious on day one of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2019 at 7he Sevens Stadium on Thursday.
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Women
The Black Ferns Sevens secured the biggest win of the day, beating invitational team Japan 48-0 with braces from Stacey Waaka and Huia Harding, as they bid to become the first team to successfully defend the title in HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series history.
Australia, USA and France were equally comfortable winners, but Canada had to dig deep to withstand a fight-back by Russia to triumph 24-19 and Spain only took the lead with time up on the clock against Ireland thanks to Patricia Garcia’s conversion in a 12-10 win.
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, the top try scorer on the 2019 series, scored the first try of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2019 after a line-break by Kathy Baker created space in the Spanish defence. The flyer then chased down Iera Echebarria to deny Spain a quick reply, before a dummy from Baker saw her double Ireland’s lead to 10-0.
However, with seconds to go to half-time Spain put Patricia Garcia into space to score in their 200th match in series history. Garcia then showed nerves of steel with time up on the clock to convert Maria Garcia’s try and snatch a 12-10 victory for Las Leonas.
Australia had never lost to Fiji in 21 previous meetings and they showed their determination to maintain that record when Ellia Green burst through a tackle in her own half and raced away to score before Emma Tonegato crossed for her 10th and 11th tries of the series from closer range for a 17-0 half-time lead. Green limped off before Tonegato’s second, but Australia kept the scoreboard ticking over as captain Sharni Williams dummied to go over before Georgia Hannaway and Faith Nathan marked their series debuts with tries in the 38-0 victory to top Pool B after day one.
Canada, runners-up in Dubai in 2018, had looked on course for a comfortable opening Pool A victory after a Bianca Farella double and another from captain Ghislaine Landry had given them a 19-0 lead at half-time, but Russia came out in determined mood, captain Alena Mikhaltsova handing off Landry to score within 40 seconds of the restart and then Elena Zdrokova added a second to make it 19-12 with more than three minutes to play. Charity Williams eased any Canadian nerves with their fourth try but Zdrokova shrugged off an attempted tackle to run a try with seconds remaining to make the final score 24-19.
USA began their quest for a first Dubai title with a 29-7 defeat of Brazil, playing in the event for the first time since 2015. Brazil lost debutant Byanca Santa Rita Miranda to the sin-bin and Kristi Kirshe burst through a tackle to score under the posts in her absence. She ran in another after Brazil lost possession on the USA line and could have had a third before the break but knocked on. Two powerful hand-offs from Eti Haungatu saw her score her first series try with Naya Tapper and captain Abby Gustaitis also dotting down for USA. Brazil, though, did get on the scoreboard when Thalia Costa ran the length of the pitch to the delight of the crowd.
‘Le Crunch Sevens’ saw France take control of their Pool C match against England early on with three first-half tries through Séraphine Okemba, Shannon Izar and Chloé Pelle to lead 17-0 at half-time. There was no let up from Les Bleues after the break with Pelle racing down the right to score her second of the match before Coralie Bertrand (pictured) did the same to wrap up the 29-0 victory and draw level with England in their head-to-head with eight victories apiece in series history.
That left only defending champions New Zealand and invitational team Japan to open their campaigns in Dubai. Waaka, one of World Rugby’s Unstoppables in their ‘Try and Stop Us’ campaign, shrugged off a tackle to run in the first try before finding Kelly Brazier for a quick-fire second. The Black Ferns Sevens weren’t finished there, though, with Theresa Fitzpatrick, Shakira Baker and Waaka running in tries for a 29-0 half-time lead. There was no let up after the break with Harding (2) and Alena Saili tries wrapping up a 48-0 victory against a Japan side that saw Riho Kurogi stretchered off injured in the first half.
The action continues on Friday with the two remaining rounds of pool play before the knockout stages on Saturday. Spain will again kick off the day’s play at 7he Sevens Stadium, this time against Fiji, at 09:00 local time (GMT+4) before Olympic champions Australia face Ireland.
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Men
Series champions Fiji, USA and South Africa all survived scares to win their opening matches at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2019 on Thursday.
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series returned with a bang on Thursday with five of the eight men’s matches on day one of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens 2019 decided by sevens points or less.
Series champions Fiji held off a fast-finishing Japan 24-17, while USA beat new core team Ireland 24-19 and South Africa had to come from behind to edge Kenya 17-12 in the last match of the day at 7he Sevens Stadium.
Samoa and France were the other narrow winners, coming through against Canada and Argentina respectively with a successful conversion giving Les Bleus the smallest winning margin of the day, 12-10.
By contrast, defending champions New Zealand and England put Wales and Spain to the sword by the same margin – 36-7 – while Australia were the day’s top scorers with seven tries in a 43-14 defeat of Scotland.
Samoa emerged from the tunnel on their own, walking out solemnly before lining up to honour those affected by the measles epidemic in the country that has claimed more than 40 lives. It was Canada, though, who twice went in front with tries from captain Nathan Hirayama and Josiah Morra only for Samoa to make it 12-12 at half-time thanks to efforts by Paul Scanlan and Tofatu Solia. Elisapeta Alofipo then gave Samoa the lead for the first time with less than two minutes to go and they held on, grateful to see Canada knock-on only metres from their line with the clock in red.
The outcome of the other Pool B match was never in doubt after Tone Ng Shiu gave defending champions New Zealand the lead with barely a minute on the clock before Kurt Baker quickly added a brace of his own for a 17-0 half-time lead over Wales. The second half was barely 30 seconds old when Ng Shui dotted down again with Ngarohi McGarvey-Black adding his own brace to make it 36-0 before a late consolation effort for Wales from Joe Goodchild.
A first-half brace from Joe Pincus laid the foundations for Australia’s 43-14 victory over Scotland in Pool B. His double, either side of one for Scotland captain Robbie Fergusson, and another for Josh Coward meant Australia led 19-7 at half-time. Josh Turner needed just 18 seconds of the second half to score on his series debut with Jeral Skelton extending Australia’s lead.
Fans had been looking forward to seeing former sprinter Trae Williams in full flight for Australia, but may not have expected it to be in defence, his pace enabling him to make a try-saving tackle under the posts. Scotland did eventually go over after a series of scrums through Max McFarland, but Henry Hutchinson’s long run in put the finishing touch on the Australian victory.
It was then time for Ireland’s debut as a core team on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, against the only team to reach every semi-final on the 2019 series in USA. Carlin Isles raced away for the opening try before series debutant Aaron O’Sullivan replied for Ireland. The Sevens Eagles did, though, take a 12-10 lead into half-time after Danny Barrett powered over. Jordan Conroy was denied a try when referee Richard Kelly judged the final pass to be forward and it wasn’t long before Perry Baker raced away to score and Barrett added his second. Ireland did have the final say, though, with Teddy Kennedy and Jack Kelly tries making the final score 24-21.
France looked in complete control of their match with Argentina when Terry Bouhraoua turned over ball at the breakdown and raced clear for Les Bleus’ second try for a 12-0 lead with a minute to go to half-time, but Lautaro Bazan Velez gave Los Pumas Sevens hope when he stepped inside his marker and kept his balance long enough to reach the line. Matias Osadczuk cut the deficit to two points within 90 seconds of play resuming, but that would prove to be the last score with France captain Jean Pascal Barraque’s conversion of Bouhraoua’s try proving the match-winner for his side.
Fans were expecting defending series champions Fiji to run in the tries against invitational side Japan and there were only 25 seconds on the clock when Vilimoni Botitu opened the scoring. Jerry Tuwai, the World Rugby Men’s Sevens Player of the Year 2019 in association with HSBC, then reacted fastest when the ball skewed out of a Japanese scrum to score Fiji’s second but it was 10-5 at half-time after Yoshikazu Fujita touched down. Brothers Isoa Tabu and Sevuloni Mocenacagi pushed Fiji clear but once more Japan came back at them, cutting the final deficit to seven points with tries by Fujita and Kippei Ishida.
Spain enjoyed the perfect start to their Pool D match with England, when Manuel Sainz-Trapaga was stopped short but quick recycled ball enabled captain Francisco Hernandez to score the opening try. However, that merely kicked England into gear with Dan Bibby marking his 50th series tournament with a long run in before Dan Norton and Tom Emery touched down for a 19-7 half-time lead. Norton’s 340th try on the series and further scores from captain Phil Burgess and Ollie Lindsay-Hague made it 36 unanswered points for England come the final whistle.
An all-African affair wrapped up the day’s play with South Africa scoring first through Ryan Oosthuizen, who was then bounced aside as Alvin Otieno powered down the line to the delight of the Kenyan fans. Within a minute Kenyan fans were on their feet again as Vincent Onyala claimed a cross-field kick on the bounce one-handed and tiptoed down the touchline to make it 12-5 at half-time. However, the Blitzboks’ returning stars Rosko Specman (pictured) and Seabelo Senatla scored the tries with their dancing feet and blistering pace respectively to extend South Africa’s winning streak against Kenya to 13 matches with a 17-12 victory.
The action continues on Friday with the two remaining rounds of pool play before the knockout stages on Saturday. Samoa will again kick off the men’s matches at 7he Sevens Stadium, this time against Wales at 11:14 local time (GMT+4) before defending champions New Zealand tackle Canada.