Day 1 of the women’s tournament of the highly anticipated Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, kicked off with 16 teams competing in a knock-out match format.
Reigning champions New Zealand enjoyed a successful start to the defence of their crown. The Black Ferns Sevens are also the current women’s Olympic gold medallists and got their Rugby World Cup Sevens campaign underway with a 47-5 win against Colombia.
Australia’s team arrived in Cape Town in a confident mood having recently claimed the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 titles. The women began with a 48-0 defeat of debutants Madagascar, with five tries from Faith Nathan.
South Africa’s women were beaten 29-0 by France, who were silver medallists at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco.
The quarter-final lineup in the 16-strong women’s competition sees Australia v England, New Zealand v Ireland, France v Fiji and USA v Canada.
Australia 48-00 Madagascar
Australia immediately applied the pressure from the kick-off and managed to score the first try of the match after beating an initially resolute Madagascar defence. They then kept up the relentless pressure and outpaced the Madagascar defence out wide to score another three tries, which took the score to 26-00 by the end of the first half. The one-way Australian train powered on in the second half starving Madagascar of possession and playing opportunities. Madagascar did come close to scoring a try after a very good line break, however, the ball was lost over the try line. Australia comfortably won the match 48-00.
USA 39-07 Poland
The speed and skill displayed by the USA team proved a tough nut to crack for debutantes Poland. They struggled to defend against a determined USA team, which built up a 17-00 lead within the first 4 minutes of the first half. Poland however refused to lie down and opened up their scoring tally with a good try, which took the score to 17-07 in favour of the USA at halftime. Poland, unfortunately, could not stay in the match and the USA dominated the remainder of the match to win 39-07.
Canada 24-05 China
China surprised the crowd (and Canada) by scoring the first try of the match after beating the Canadian defence out wide with a very good pace. Canada then managed to get good ball possession, however, some handling errors marred a good try-scoring opportunity. Fortunately for Canada, they did manage to eventually score a try to take a 07-05 lead in the match. China then took control of the ball and the play, however, Canada scored another try after the hooter to take their score to 12-05 at halftime. The second half continued to be a tightly contested affair. China kept Canada pinned in their half for the first 3 minutes however they were unable to score. Canada then managed to break out of their half to score another two good tries, which increased their lead to the match-winning score of 24-05.
Fiji 36-07 Japan
Fiji, similar to their male counterparts, used their traditional physical, strong ball carries to overpower Japan in the first half. Japan struggled to keep them in check and Fiji created gaps in Japan's defence to comfortably score tries which gave them a 22-05 lead at halftime. The second half was pretty much a repeat of the first half except that Fiji also dominated the possession and territory, which provided them with more scoring opportunities and points. They kept Japan pinned in their half and increased their lead to 36-00. Japan however did not give up and scored a very good consolation try to end the match 36-07.
Ireland 24-12 Brazil
Ireland drew the first blood in the match when they scored a try after 3 minutes which saw the possession change hands a few times. They soon followed it up with another good try which increased their lead to 14-00. Brazil responded with a try of their own after they managed to play into the Ireland half and beat Ireland's defence in the mid-field which took the score to 14-05. Brazil in turn followed it up with another try after the halftime hooter, which decreased the scoreline gap to 14-12. The second half started with Ireland scoring a try within the first few seconds from within their half. This increased their lead to 19-12. They then kept Brazil pinned on their try line and under pressure for a while, which eventually resulted in Ireland scoring another try and them winning the match 24-12.
England 29-05 Spain
England started the match like a house on fire and scored their first try within the first minute. They soon crossed Spain's try line again for another try after they easily beat Spain's defence. The match then settled and Spain got more possession which they used to score a good try of their own after they beat the England defence out wide which took the score to 12-05. England responded by in turn beating Spain's defence out wide to score another try, which increased their lead to a comfortable 19-05 at halftime. The start of the second half saw Spain playing all the rugby, however, a handling error by Spain gifted England the ball which they used to score their fourth try. England then kept Spain at bay and scored again to easily win the match 29-05.
New Zealand 45-05 Colombia
New Zealand went into this match as the favourites and it showed after they scored two quick tries to take an early 14-00 lead. Colombia who was outmuscled and outplayed by the physically dominant New Zealand team struggled to get their hands on the ball and could not get any useful movements going. New Zealand kept Colombia pinned in their half and scored more tries to increase their lead to a healthy 26-00 at halftime. The start of the second half saw Colombia capitalise on a handling error by New Zealand close to their try line. They managed to score a try after pouncing on a loose ball behind New Zealand's try line which netted them 5 points. New Zealand however totally dominated the rest of the match despite Colombia never giving up the fight with the enthusiastic support of the crowd. They scored another two tries which gave them a 45-05 victory.
France 29-00 South Africa
The excitement in the Cape Town Stadion reached a fever pitch when South Africa, the hometown favourites, ran onto the pitch. The team coached by Paul Delport and captained by Sizo Solontsi, started the match with all their guns blazing. They attacked the French defence with hard and direct running however France managed to get possession in South Africa's quarter from where they scored a try to open the scoring tally 05-00. South Africa then forced France into their half from where they launched more attacking plays. However poor execution and defensive pressure by France, allowed France to again turn the possession and they scored another try against the run of play to increase their lead to 12-00. Soon thereafter France scored their third try by outpacing the South African defence to take the halftime score to 19-00. France continued their dominance of the match in the second half with more hard and powerful ball carriers which proved too much to handle for South Africa who gave it their all. France scored more tries and won the match 29-00.
Article by Francois du Toit