Dubai Rugby Sevens: Australia thrash South Africa in opening game of new season

Defending Dubai-leg champions Australia and overall IRB Women’s Sevens World Series holders New Zealand began their season on a bright note, notching up three wins each on Day 1 of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens Thursday.

They will be joined in the Cup quarter-finals on Friday by Fiji, USA, Canada, England, France and Russia, while South Africa, Spain, China and Brazil will play off in the Bowl semi-finals.
 
Australia began their title-defence by brushing aside South Africa 36-0 in a Pool B match that kicked off the 2014-15 season, thanks to Chloe Dalton’s 11 points, which included three conversions.

France was then dismantled 24-10, before Tim Walsh’s charges rounded off their Pool B engagements with a 39-0 win over Spain.

New Zealand, who are aiming for a hat-trick of overall series titles, barely broke a sweat while dispatching China 43-0 in Pool A before triumphing 24-19 over a determined USA and 29-12 over Russia.

It was an emotional moment for the Australian girls, as they paid tribute to Australian cricketer Phil Hughes, wearing black armbands and with the number 408 written on their arms.

Australian captain Sharni Williams said: “It’s great to be back in Dubai, it brought back some good memories being on Pitch 1. It was a great hit out, the pitch is quite fast and it is pretty hot, which suits us.

“But we were out there for Phil Hughes today, we have the armbands on and we did it for him, it was a tribute to him.”

Carla Hohepa, Charlotte Scanlan and Portia Woodman scored two tries each as New Zealand started off by demolishing China.

The Pool A favourites survived a scare against the USA in a 24-19 victory, before the 2012 Dubai-leg champions made it three wins out of three by defeating Russia 29-12.

Speaking after their preliminary engagements, New Zealand coach Sean Horan said: “I’m happy with the team’s form today - Day 1 is all about finding your feet, adjusting to the heat, and adjusting to the opposition. We’re pretty pleased with three wins out of three - you can’t complain, we got tested in the second game against a fired-up energetic USA. They brought a great attitude to the game, and France also surprised people with their form today. The Olympic qualifying stakes have really seen the intensity being raised.”

Canada, who finished in third place in last season’s overall standings and are the other strong title-contenders, began their campaign with a 26-10 win over Brazil, the hosts of the next Summer Olympics. Ghislaine Landry was the standout performer for the Canadians there, with 19 points including three tries and two conversions.

Speaking after the match against Brazil, Canada’s captain Jen Kish said: “It was tough, we were a little undisciplined around the breakdown, but it’s a win and we’ll take it and move on to the next game. Brazil did everything we expected them to; they are pretty good when they are on. There’s always a lot of jitters in the first game of the first Series tournament, so it’s good to get them out.”

Canada then gave Fiji a thorough working-over in a 47-5 win. Bidding for a first-ever leg-win, the Canadians, who finished fourth here in 2013, then lost 12-17 to 2013 Plate champions England in the biggest contest of the day.

Coach Simon Middleton said: “We saved our best for last. We had a difficult pool, and there were some really good sides – you’ve just got to look across the competition to see how tough it’s going to be all the way through.”

The IRB Women’s Sevens World Series Cup Final will be played on Pitch 1 at 6.31pm.

Results

Cup Quarter-final line-up:

Australia vs Fiji (Pitch 2, 10 am)
USA vs Canada (Pitch 2, 10:22 am)
England vs France (Pitch 2, 10:44 am)
New Zealand vs Russia (Pitch 2, 11:06 am)

Bowl Semi-final line-up:

South Africa vs China (Pitch 2, 1:08 pm)
Spain vs Brazil (Pitch 2, 1:30 pm)