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RECAP: New Zealand, Australia, France faultless at Hong Kong 7s
New Zealand, Australia and France were all faultless on the opening day of the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens as they pursue top seedings for the HSBC SVNS Series Grand Final next month in Madrid.
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All three sides have already secured their spots in Spain, but series leaders Australia have the chance to secure their top-two seeding this weekend.
New Zealand, meanwhile, have won gold at the last two tournaments in Vancouver and Los Angeles, and are the reigning champions in Hong Kong, beating Australia 26-17 in last year’s inaugural competition, and will be vying to retain that title.
In Pool C, Canada and the USA also both started with two wins from two in their pursuit of spots in Madrid, setting up an exciting pool decider on Saturday in a repeat of the Los Angeles bronze final.
Pool A – New Zealand flawless start to title defence
New Zealand started their title defence in style, a 24-5 victory over Great Britain followed with a 33-7 victory against Brazil. Michaela Blyde, playing her 50th sevens series tournament, scored twice to take her side 12-0 in front at the break against GB, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Stacey Waaka adding two more in the second half for the win.
Against Brazil, the Black Ferns Sevens took a 12-0 lead into the break, overcoming Milena Silva’s reply to score three more before the final whistle.
France won both their opening games in Hong Kong in strong fashion, a 28-17 win over Brazil followed by a 34-7 victory against Great Britain.
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France crossed for four tries against as Jade Ulutule slotted all of her conversions in their first game, and against Great Britain, they dominated the first half, or more accurately Joanna Grisez did, as she scored a hattrick of tries.
Pool B – Australia seal comeback win
Australia opened their Hong Kong account with a dogged comeback win to beat Fiji by 19-12 with six players. The Fijiana stunned the series leaders early as Helenia Young scored in their first attack, followed by captain Raijieli Daveua soon after, before Faith Nathan reduced the deficit to five at half-time.
Sharni Smale levelled the game, but a high shot and subsequent red card for Madison Ashby slashed their chances. However, with Fiji’s Younis Bese sent to the bin, the numbers on the field were equalled, Maddison Levi taking advantage to secure a stunning victory.
They continued their winning ways in more convincing fashion against Ireland in a 35-0 victory, sisters Teagan and Madison Levi crossing in the early stages before Bienne Terita made it 21-0 at the break, Ruby Nicholas scoring on debut to put the game out of reach.
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Ireland had won their opener 20-7 over South Africa, Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe grabbing a brace between tries from Stacey Flood and Vicki Elmes Kinlan.
Fiji bounced back in their second game to win 24-7 against South Africa, a dominant first-half performance seeing three tries from Verenaisi Ditavutu, Raijieli Daveua and Ilisapeci Delaiwau. Daveua added another after the break to keep their hopes of quarter-final rugby alive.
"We were a little bit our own worst enemy…"
– The Ilona Maher verdict on the USA finishing with two opening-day wins, from Liam Heagney ?? in Hong Kong. #HK7s #HSBCSVNS @SVNSSeries @OfficialHK7s @USARugby
Catch all the action live on RugbyPass TV https://t.co/z90EMWWBPa pic.twitter.com/LhbAVoa9kd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 5, 2024
Pool C – USA and Canada set up showdown
Canada opened the proceedings in Hong Kong in style with a 24-5 victory over Japan, thanks to a hasty double from Charity Williams. Her first set the tone for the weekend, taking the ball from her own 22-metre line and past three defenders.
Meanwhile, USA won their opener over Spain with an identical 24-5 score line. The Los Angeles bronze medallists led 12-0 at the break and took that lead to 24-0 with two more tries in the second half from Kayla Canett and Alev Kelter, Spain’s only reprieve coming late on from Elisabet Segarra Cararach after the US went down to six.
A tight affair saw Canada edge Spain 14-7 in their second game, Williams once again the hero as her second-half try took them beyond the converted score of Spain’s Juana Stella in the opening minute. It was similarly close between the USA and Japan, all square at 5-5 at the break.
Jaz Gray and Kelter took the USA in front with a score each, but Japan’s comeback efforts through Marin Kajiki’s try came too later. Saturday’s fixture against will be crucial for Japan to give them a chance to overhaul South Africa, Brazil and Great Britain before Madrid.
- Click here to follow all the action live from Hong Kong on RugbyPass TV
Comments on RugbyPass
Rehashed articles. But this piece does not do justice to how good the Boks had to be to win that tournament, and how immense some of their players were in that final. Peter Stef du Toit played one of the greatest games by a loose forward ever. All Blacks played well but not well enough and came up short. There are a million ‘if’s’ and none of the ‘if’s’ that don’t happen will win you a footy match.
28 Go to commentsSour grapes/ face it the allblacks aren't that good anymore LoL!!!
28 Go to commentsDear Internet, This is what sour grapes look like… It wont make any difference in down playing the SA win. The scoreboard is the ultimate statistic. I agree with Johnz, I would have liked a full 15vs15 for the whole game. Could have been even better or worse. What we as rugby supporters got, was a fantastic game where the result could have gone either way. It was great.
28 Go to commentsben loser smith. I haven't read the article. Just saw the headline and knew it was him. Rugbypass surely you can do better than this clickbate loser.
28 Go to commentsIf if if….If my aunt had balls she would be my uncle
28 Go to commentsBen is right, the RWC should be taken from SA and awarded to NZ. Rugby matches from now on will not be decided on points but rather on who deserved to win the most. This will be decided by 1 journalist sitting in a bunker.
28 Go to commentsThat's quite a wind up Ben. I'm an all black fan, and admittedly the loss felt a little hollow, given how well the boys played once Cane left the field. But that's finals footy, sometimes it's cruel. Let's look at the reality though. This was a team that spent an entire year thinking about how to beat Ireland, and did so magnificently. Come final time, they started the match looking overawed, fearful and unprepared. This led them to getting behind on the scoreboard, and chasing the game, which is never a good position to be in a final. SA started better, were confident and assured. That, in the end, was the game. The comeback led by Savea was phenomenal, but not quite enough. That's how comebacks often go. The real questions should be why they looked so unprepared? Why we needed to get behind and lose our so called leader to start playing? And why the best player against SA from a month or two before wasn't even in the team? Plus give some credit where it's due, PSD was quite phenomenal and instrumental in keeping SA ahead, a performance for the ages.
28 Go to commentsMy only response is “Check the Scoreboard” nothing else matters. Ben you will not wind me up pal. Boks are 4 times RWC Champions.
28 Go to commentsThere is no place to hide in the front row. You win or lose each time and it selects for hard men/women and those who enjoy combat
7 Go to commentsThey might have won several different areas on the field but the one that ultimately counts is on the scoreboard. Ben Smith’s nonsense is still shown up for what it is following criticisings by his team’s coach claiming similar nonsenses and several other players as well. I am not an expert but I know All Blacks know that the game is won by the team with more points on the board than the opposition. Also the red card on Sam Cane is entirely his own fault. If they were aggrieved for having one less player on the pitch, that was their own fault, their own captain who possibly in a moment of forgetfulness tackled too high but either way it is a RWC Final, you cannot be having lapses of forgetfulness in a match like that. The fact that they were down a man for 64 minutes was their fault. And even if they did dominate the second half for 35 minutes, they had crossed the whitewash twice, they had several kicks at goal, the fact is they didn't maximize on all the opportunities they were given. The one try was disallowed, the two kicks at goal were missed, the opportunities not taken. Every tackle was made by the Springboks with so much more fervour than anyone had seen even in the Semi Final the week previously. Whatever Ben Smith says, most of what he says can be chalked down to a spoiled sport who has nothing better to say than whine and moan because ultimately the team he supports lost when it mattered most.
28 Go to commentsThere’s plenty I could write on this, I won’t stop if I really get going, so i’ll make just 2 important points. Don’t forget that SA didn’t have a hooker, don’t discount that fact. I would have taken MBONAMBI fit for the game over a yellow to Frizelle. Also you forget that NZ had the luxury of playing without pressure once the red came. Noone expected them to win and they could always fall back on 14 men if they lost. I’d also have taken 15 men NZ and MBONAMBI on the field over what transpired.
28 Go to commentsSome people in France say that JB Lafont have some problems with alcohol….
2 Go to commentsThis is awesome news. I hope he goes well.
1 Go to commentsI get that Ben's role is to attract SA readers with controversial clickbait, but what about respecting the rivalry of over 100 years? The Boks won, we lost. The Boks have now won 4 world cups since their inclusion back into international rugby, and in that time the rest of the world combined have only won 4! It's an incredible achievement. Show respect, and then hope we win 2-0 in SA later this year. But don't be a whiner; it means you don't understand the rivalry at its essence. Winner takes all when NZ plays SA. Sport in it's purest form. Long may it continue.
28 Go to commentsU Nz never ever use to be such a bunch off whining girls,now this so sad that u got this aasss writing some crap
28 Go to commentsBeautifully written.
7 Go to commentsYou can be a dominating team and still lose. The Boks know that if the ABs are a man down, they play as if they have another two players on the field. The ABs did attack, they did apply pressure, they built more plays but they did not add more points to the board. The ABs are still the most dominant team in sports today as the ABs will go for a win in every game they play. Rassie and Jacques have used the time between World Cups to build squad depth. They were also the last tier 1 nation to start playing rugby after COVID restrictions were eased and still won the series against The B&I Lions. Ben may write to persuade the reader that the Boks are not worthy of the trophy or worthy to be the best in the world but Ben, since you enjoy stats so much, you forgot the most important statistic….the score! That's the one that matters most.
28 Go to commentsNot a fan of Penney to be fair as I don’t see him able to perform at SR level. However he has stepped into a bit of a mess with so many long service players leaving. No matter how good a coach us he can’t wave a magic wind and turn young pups into Crusaders in 5 mins. Wheaven to accept this is a complete rebuild of players and culture. Have some patience just as the other teams have had in years gone by
29 Go to commentsWhat is Ben’s point exactly? Cause if it’s that the ABs should’ve won that game, then yes I think every AB fan would agree with that. But the DIDN'T. You need luck to go your way and it went the Springboks way, just as it went the ABs way in 2011. Given that this article is written 6 months after the final shows that Ben is still incredibly butthurt. Time to move on Mr Smith. Maybe join something that suits your bias… i’m thinking the Australian commentary panel?
28 Go to commentsSA players and fans calling the irish arrogant, ooh the irony!!
90 Go to comments