RUGBY SEVENS: The Australian men came close to defending their Tokyo Sevens title while the women suffered a setback in their hunt for the top spot in the World Series. On a weekend of high expectations, the men's side finished third and the women seventh on their respective stops on the World Series Tour.

Men's Sevens

The Australian Men’s Sevens have defeated France 31-7 to finish third at the Tokyo Sevens.

The result boosted the Australians significantly in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings, moving them from 11th up three places to eighth, with two rounds left in the season.

The Australians started day two of the tournament with a significant win over Fiji, 21-12, in the Cup quarter-final, before a 35-17 loss to New Zealand in the semi-final sent them to the third-place playoff against France.

Qantas Men’s Sevens coach Michael O’Connor said the result was crucial for his side going forward.

“It’s a good result, the points are very important for us and the guys finished on a good note and played some really good footy in that final game,” O’Connor said.

“We had three rookies playing today and they handled themselves well. It’s not an ideal situation to be in against New Zealand in a Cup semi-final but they gained some really valuable experience.

“Overall I’m pretty happy with third place. What was pleasing about this weekend is we had guys really put their hands up. Guys like Tom Cusack, Lewis Holland, Con Foley and Cam Clark were really outstanding, we needed their experience this weekend.”

Australia and Fiji were locked at 7-7 at half time in the Cup quarter-final, following a try to Australia’s Will Miller and conversion by James Stannard.

Fiji struck first in the second half to take a 12-7 lead, but a converted try to Lewis Holland gave his side a 14-12 advantage midway through. A second try to Holland in the final stages put the game out of reach of the Fijians.

The Cup semi-final saw Australia off to a flying start, with an early try to Pama Fou, but New Zealand ran away to a 21-7 lead by half time. The second half saw New Zealand score twice again, with two tries to Australian debutant Peter Schuster and teammate Cusack unable to alter the outcome.

In their final match of the tournament, the Qantas Men’s Sevens scored twice early through Clark and Fou to take a 12-7 lead at the break.

The scoreboard continued to tick over in the second half as Australia ran in three tries, to Clark, Holland and debutant Sam Figg, and kept the French scoreless.

Day one saw the Australians finish second in their pool with wins over England, 26-19, and Argentina, 31-0, before a deciding match against Samoa, which they lost 26-14.

The match also featured two personal milestones for Australian players, with Pama Fou reaching 200 points for Australia and Cam Clark marking his 100th point.

The Qantas Men’s Sevens return to action in May when they travel to Scotland for the Glasgow Sevens on 4-5 May.

 

Women's Sevens:

Over in China, the Australian Women’s Sevens finished seventh following a 7-5 win over Brazil in their final match of the third round of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series.

Playing at Guangzhou Uni Town Stadium, the Qantas Women’s Sevens started their day with a disappointing 17-14 loss to the United States in the Cup quarter-final, before falling 15-14 to Ireland in the Plate semifinal.

Qantas Women’s Sevens coach Chris Lane was disappointed with his side’s performance on the second day, as they let sides get away from them too often.

“We simply weren’t good enough today, we didn’t aim up,” Lane said.

“We had leads throughout this tournament and we surrendered them. We need to have a brutally honest look at ourselves and improve from this.

“On a positive note, some of our younger players who are new to the Series really showed they belong here and that’s a positive sign for our depth and development.”

The Qantas Women’s Sevens found themselves down 12-0 to United States at half time of their Cup quarter-final, but managed to close the gap to 12-7 early in the second following a try to Brooke Anderson. The States scored once more and a late try to Australia’s Tiana Penitani was simply a consolation.

The Australians led 7-5 at half time against the Irish, following a try to Ellia Green, and scored again in the second half through Cobie-Jane Morgan, but a try and penalty to the Irish stole the win.

Their final match of the tournament featured an early try to Shontelle Stowers, to notch her 100th point for Australia, and a conversion to Sharni Williams to take a 7-0 lead at half time. A late try to Brazil in the second half closed the gap, but the conversion was missed.

Day one saw the Qantas Women’s Sevens finish second in their pool with two wins from three, having dispatched of Japan 26-5 and Ireland 12-7, before encountering a confident Canada to come off second best at 20-10.

The Qantas Women’s Sevens will return to action in May for the non-IRB sanctioned London Sevens and the final round of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series in Netherlands.

ARU