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Great Britain confirmed as eighth women’s team set for SVNS Grand Final
Great Britain are the eighth and final women’s side to book their ticket to the SVNS Series’ inaugural Grand Final in Madrid even though they were beaten in the Singapore quarter-finals by New Zealand.
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New Zealand, Australia, France, the USA, Canada, Ireland and Fiji had already secured their place in the winner-takes-all finale from May 31 to June 2, and Great Britain were in the box seat to join them before play even started in Singapore.
The British occupied eighth place on the overall standings ahead of the Series’ final regular season event this weekend but had Brazil and a couple of others running the same race to the Spanish capital.
With Great Britain and the ninth-placed Brazil drawn in the same pool at Singapore’s National Stadium, their clash on Saturday morning was always going to have huge ramifications on the Series.
It was one of Great Britain’s strongest performances of the 2023/24 season with Heather Cowell, Jasmin Joyce, Isla Norman-Bell (double) and Emma Uren all crossing for five-pointers.
Try scoring machine Thaila Costa crossed for Brazil’s only try of the contest in the 2nd minute – it was also the opening points of the match – but it was one-way traffic from there with GB winning 35-5.
“We knew this tournament was important but we took each game (by game) and Brazil was our main focus coming in,” Great Britain’s Isla Norman-Bell told RugbyPass
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“We put out a great performance and we’re really happy with that.
“We can’t control what else has happened throughout so we’ve just got to move on to the next game and hopefully get as many points as possible.
A statement win from our girls 35-5 vs Brazil 💪pic.twitter.com/ocn04dFC5N
— GB Rugby Sevens (@GBRugbySevens) May 4, 2024
“We were all really disappointed with how yesterday had gone but we knew that today was a new opportunity and we’re just really excited,” she added.
“We knew that we’d put in the work behind the scenes and we had analysed Brazil so we knew exactly what we were going to do coming into this game.
“I think that’s all we could be worried about. We did that on the pitch and we got a great score from that.”
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If SVNS Singapore had played out the way most would’ve predicted then that would’ve been enough for Great Britain to lock up eighth spot, but as is the nature of the Series, competition is unpredictable.
Over in Pool B, Japan bounced back from a heavy 41-7 defeat to France on day one to shock the USA and South Africa. Japan won two pool matches in a single tournament for the first time in a decade.
That made things a lot more interesting but with Japan and Great Britain both going on to lose their respective quarter-finals, GB were officially confirmed as a Madrid-bound Grand Finalist.
“We as GB have quite a challenge in ourselves. We aren’t together every single day like most, well I think all the other teams,” Norman-Bell explained.
“Our coach needed to see people this season and that’s why our team was so inconsistent. We had different players playing but he ultimately had to see.
“The Olympics is the big one this year and going to the Olympics and having the strongest team is what it’s all about.”
Catch up on all the latest SVNS Series action from the 2023/24 season on RugbyPass TV. SVNS Singapore is live and free to watch, all you need to do is sign up HERE.
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Comments on RugbyPass
I think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
3 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
3 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
2 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
19 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
2 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
2 Go to commentsGlad Tom Curry not playing needs time to recover such a great player also his brother Ben how well is he playing now .
1 Go to commentsLet’s examine what might be irking the brainless E: Up until 20 years before this coming Julys tests: 16 games: 14 wins for SA; 1 win for Ire; 1 draw From 20 years until July’ tests Ireland V SA: 13 matches Ireland won 8; SA won 4; 1 draw Points scored Ireland 261; SA 189 Ave Winning Margin: Ireland 11 points; SA 4 points (away 3, home 6) Away win record: Ireland 33.33%; SA 25% Neutral matches 1: Ireland win RWC France 2023. Last SA win June 2016 (8 years ago) They boast 3 World cups in that period (they do boast). The above record is not good, probably not much better than theirs against NZ for same period. That’s why the dopey E is starting fights in his head. He will probably ship a yellow when things don’t go their way in the first test.
127 Go to commentsGoode is like a wet fart on The Rugby Pod and should be shoved aside. Jim knows what he is on about and can get on better without Goode’s nasty little cheap shots.
127 Go to commentsBrumbies will win, crusaders are pretty awful this year
1 Go to commentsThis has the makings of a good match. That’s Leinster’s second team but its a good one (stronger than the teams in SA recently). Ulster are really turning a page. Ryan back is huge, and Keenan too. This could be a cracker.
1 Go to commentsThe Farrells are one of the great father and son combinations. Andy was an RL great, and had he played Union as his first sport, I would be sure he would have been avery significant forcewas in League. And Owen, a Union great, who had he played League, would could have been a great there too i all probability. I feel my attitude to Owen has mellowed as he has aged, and in the post Jones era, evolved and shown his full range of talents. He really is an all round player, and I have wold hope his move to France will be successful. He may even be the piece in the jigsaw that Racing need to rise to challenge Toulouse and LAR. He is ofc now approaching 33 years of age but should still have enough left to make a big contribution in France for at least2/3 years.
48 Go to comments