AUSTRALIA’S DAY AT THE SYDNEY 7s
The Qantas Australian Sevens sides got off to the perfect start on day one of the HSBC Sydney 7s, as the women scored three wins from three before the men capped it off with a memorable victory over the United States of America.
The Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens booked a Quarter-Final berth against Spain after convincing wins over Spain, Papua New Guinea and France in pool play. Australia’s last eight clash will kickoff at 9.44am AEDT on day two.
Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens coach Tim Walsh said: “It was a pleasing performance, particularly the zero in our defensive effort, which is what coaches are always after and that really shows your desire.
“That last 30 seconds against the French, when they’re on their line and they still didn’t want to let them in, it was really good character to finish the day.”
“Day one, as everyone knows in the game of Sevens, you’ve got to set that foundation and get through the day but it’s a whole new game tomorrow.
“(It’s a) great foundation, but we’re going to park that and make sure we’re better tomorrow. The reality is we’re going to have to be better tomorrow,” Walsh said.
Australia 29 defeated Spain 0
Australia burst out of the blokes in their opening game with Emma Sykes scything through and running forty metres to score before converting from out wide. Australia kept the pressure on the Spanish defence with Charlotte Caslick earning a turnover penalty before a quick tap to dive over beside the posts to score. Speedster Ellia Green then entered the field of play, capping a remarkable recovery from a knee reconstruction, before the winger stepped her way through the Spanish defence to get a try of her own.
Emma Sykes grabbed her second try in the second half with a step and fend allowing her to dot down next to the posts. Evania Pelite then got her name on the scoresheet as she split the line to run 30 metres to touch down for the five pointer and close the game out 29-nil.
Australia 50 defeated Papua New Guinea 0
Charlotte Caslick opened the scoring within 90 seconds with the star halfback scooping the ball at the back of a scrum and darting down the blindside to score in the right hand corner. Cassie Staples made it 10-nil two minutes later as Caslick worked the overlap to feed Staples in the right corner. The first half quickly turned into the Caslick show with the number seven throwing the dummy to split the defence and extend the lead to 17-nil. The first half scoring wasn’t done there though, with Emma Sykes working the numbers down the right side to put Ellia Green away and make it 24-nil at the break.
Georgina Friedrichs made it 31-nil shortly after the interval as she ran an inside line off Emma Sykes to go under the posts untouched before Friedrichs earned a double just a minute later as she broke down the right flank. Emma Tonegato joined the scoresheet with a minute left to play and added her second on the final siren to bring up the half century for Australia.
Australia 43 defeated France 0
A blockbuster clash against France closed out Australia’s play on day one in a clash that would decide the winner of Pool A and Emilee Cherry opened the scoring after two minutes. Cherry was in the thick of it shortly after as she dished a pinpoint offload to Alicia Quirk for her to run away down the left wing to take the score to 12-nil. Charlotte Caslick made it a 19 point buffer after she stepped her way through the French defence to score under the posts before Ellia Green wrapped up the first half scoring with a try on the stroke of half-time.
Green made it a double after the break as she combined with Caslick to sprint away under the posts. Cherry then had a double of her own after sprinting around the French defence to take the score to 36-nil. Green didn’t have to wait long for her hat-trick as Caslick again turned provider for the speedster to race away and take the final score to 43-nil.
Aussie men earn hard fought victory to open their pool play
The Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens side played their opening pool game late on day one with the rest of the group action to continue on day two.
Australia edged USA by seven points to set them up perfectly for their second pool clash against Canada at 5.15pm AEDT on Saturday.
Qantas Australian Men’s coach Andy Friend said: “We just talked about it then, and the first seven minutes was some of the best footy we have played. But that’s where the possession is everything. If you don’t have ball in hand and you’re chasing that’s where America is going to hurt you, we probably fell asleep a bit there.
“We were playing some really good rugby and we trusted each other and what we were doing, we just got to keep continuing to do that. And the restart was everything so you know we started the second half with our kick, we went to the areas we thought we could win it but we lost it. And they got the footy and started to find some holes. We didn’t want to change anything but when you don’t have the footy things change.
“They’re a tough side USA and we struggled against them in the past because of that lack of possession but we got some open ball so pleased with that. We’ve got Canada just after five o’clock tomorrow which is another one we’ve got to win,” Friend said.
Australia 26 defeated USA 19
It didn’t take long for Andy Friend’s team to open the scoring, after series of inside balls opened the path for a barnstorming Lachie Anderson before his offload sent Boyd Killingworth away to score. Young gun Ben O’Donnell made it 14-nil with a weaving run before John Porch streaked down the left edge to extend the lead to 19 points at the break.
USA got their hands on the ball early in the second half and speedster Perry Baker made them pay as he stepped and sprinted through the Australian defence to score under the posts. USA closed the gap to just five points a minute later as Martin Iosefo raced away down the left wing for the try. The game was all tied up with four minutes left to play with USA moving the ball from right to left for Pinkleman to even the scores. Both sides became visibly exhausted in the end-to-end action but Tim Anstee had enough in the tank to sprint 60 metres to dot down under the posts and earn a memorable 26-19 win.
HSBC Sydney7s day one results
Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens
Australia 29-0 Spain
Australia 50-0 Papua New Guinea
Australia 43-0 France
Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens
Australia 26-19 USA
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