New Zealand Sevens go through day one undefeated - World Cup Sevens Wrap
The Black Ferns Sevens and All Blacks Sevens have gone through the first day of the Rugby World Cup Sevens, with the women’s side not conceding a single point after two matches in San Francisco.
The defending champion Black Ferns topped 100 total points scored after winning their first two matches 57-0 and 45-0 against Mexico and Ireland respectively.
They were led by captain Sarah Goss in their first match, who scored a hat-trick. Michaela Blyde and Portia Woodman scored two each and Stacey Waaka and Kelly Brazier added two more. Tyla Nathan-Wong made good on six of her conversion attempts.
In their second match of the day, the quarter-final against Ireland, Blyde again found her way across the chalk, increasing her tournament tally to five with a hat-trick of her own. Woodman and Waaka added to their respective tallies, with the former grabbing another double. Niall Williams rounded out the scoring and Nathan-Wong converted five tries.
Overall, the Black Ferns Sevens scored 16 tries and 102 points across their first two fixtures. They will meet the USA in their semi-final on Sunday morning.
Head coach Allan Bunting was pleased to be able to give all 12 players game time and secure possession for long periods of play.
“We achieved what we set out to achieve today. It was good to give everyone some game time, now we have to rest up and focus on tomorrow,” said Bunting.
Your women's Championship semi-finals are:@BlackFerns v @USARugby @Aussie7s v @FFRugby
Both games will be played on Saturday at 11.42am and 12.04pm (GMT-7) pic.twitter.com/b4dmr1sYn1
— Rugby World Cup Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) July 21, 2018
Clark Laidlaw’s All Blacks Sevens men’s side have advanced to their quarterfinal after dispatching Russia 29-5 in their only match of the day.
Joe Ravouvou was the standout for the All Blacks, scoring two tries.
“It was a long day but I’m really happy how the guys played, it’s good to get that first game under the belt after a few weeks off and it will set us up nicely for tomorrow,” said Laidlaw.
The All Blacks Sevens will meet France in their quarterfinal tomorrow. The French side upset Australia 22-17 with a late try.
The other stunning upset of the day was Scotland’s miracle comeback against Kenya. The Scottish side rallied from 26-0 down to win 31-26. Jamie Farndale’s late try took scores to 24-26 and a sideline conversion from Robbie Fergusson drew the scores level heading into the final restart. Farndale scored his second try shortly after to steal a famous victory.
Your men's Championship quarter-finals are as follows:@Scotlandteam v @Blitzboks @USARugby v @EnglandRugby @unionargentina v @fijirugby @FFRugby v @AllBlack7s#RWC7s pic.twitter.com/RBK2uA6wfm
— Rugby World Cup Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) July 21, 2018
Later in the day, Fiji survived an initial scare from Japan. The Flying Fijians recovered from a sluggish 10-7 first half deficit to win 35-10.
South Africa saw off Ireland 45-7 and host side USA also booked their place in the quarter-finals with a convincing 35-0 victory over Wales. Reigning Player of the Year Perry Baker was integral with a pair of tries.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Crusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
1 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
3 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
3 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
1 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
11 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
18 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
11 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
11 Go to commentsWho’d have thought, not having Farrell & Youngs kicking the ball at every possible opportunity and playing flat and allowing your centres to run and pass would pay off? No one could possibly have seen this coming. FML. It took a LONG time coming but at least that time has finally come. England need to find a backup to Lawrence. Freeman is the best candidate for me, I see no reason why he can't play 12. He's big, strong, fast and has great hands.
11 Go to commentsLove Manu but he's not the player he was and I imagine Bayonne have paid too much money for him.
3 Go to commentsNew Zealand have not beaten England since 2018 and even that was a pretty close shave.
1 Go to comments“a renewed focus on Scottish-qualified players” Scottish-qualified is another way of saying English. England has development more players for the Scotland national Rugby team in the last 4 years, than Scotland has.
2 Go to comments