QANTAS Woman Sevens storm to cup victory while QANTAS Mens Sevens hit back to win the Bowl final in Dubai

Dec 1 • Australia, General News, International, Sevens Rugby, Sevens World Series, World Rugby • 2832 Views • Comments Off on QANTAS Woman Sevens storm to cup victory while QANTAS Mens Sevens hit back to win the Bowl final in Dubai

The Qantas Women’s Sevens team pulled off one of the greatest come backs in Sevens Rugby history to win round one of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, while the Men made an impressive bounce back to claim the Bowl Final in their second World Series round at the Dubai Sevens.

The Aussie women came back from 22-0 down in the Cup Final to defeat world champions, New Zealand 35-27 and take home the triumphant victory.

The Aussie Women’s comeback was spearheaded by debutant Rachel Crothers, who in her first ever World Series tournament scored seven tries, including three in the final, in one of the greatest debuts in Australian Rugby history.

It was Australia’s first ever tournament win in the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series and in their first tournament under new coach Tim Walsh.

Australia performed strongly on day one, defeating Brazil 38-10, France 31-0 and Canada 17-0, to give them a perfect three wins from three starts. The results meant Australia were seeded number two on day two behind the powerful New Zealand.

The Qantas Women’s Sevens met England in the Cup Quarter Finals where they fought out a nail-biting 19-12 victory, after trailing 12-0 at half time. This was the first of two amazing come backs on day two.

They progressed to a Cup semi-final against the outstanding Russia, who were also undefeated coming in to day two and had powered through their quarter final 36-0 against the USA.

Australia proved far too good trouncing the Russians 31-0, which set up a decider against the world champions New Zealand.

Despite a 27-7 deficient shortly in to second half, the Qantas Women’s Sevens made a miraculous comeback. Tries to Ellia Green, Emilee Cherry and a double to Crothers saw Australia pull off a famous victory.

The Qantas Men’s Sevens prevailed over Portugal by 17-12 to win the Bowl Final. Despite early pressure and a sin bin for Luke Morahan, Australia managed to score through Ed Jenkins, with a successful conversion to Paul Asquith giving them a 7-5 half-point lead.

The score was levelled at 12 all in the second half with tries to both sides, but good composure from the Aussie men saw Asquith cross the line again to seal the five-point win over Portugal.

It was a pleasing end to the Australian’s second round campaign after dipping out of Cup contention, suffering two losses in the opening day.

Australia’s Men’s team were hoping to go one better than round one of the World Series on the Gold Coast where they finished runners-up to reigning champions, New Zealand.

Their chances were hit hard when they suffered a shock 21-17 loss to Scotland in their opening match, after leading 12-0 early on and 17-7 at half time.

They rebounded with a strong performance against Spain, winning 45-0, but still needed to defeat Wales in their final match to qualify for the Cup quarter finals.

Australia led 14-12 early in the second half of the match against Wales thanks to a try to Luke Morahan, but Wales hit back with a try of their own to clinch a 19-14 victory.

The single win meant Australia faced the USA in the Bowl Quarter Final on the second day of the Men’s competition. With a convincing 47-7 victory they progressed to the Bowl Semi-Final against Dubai sevens reigning champions, Samoa.

A late try to Australia’s James Stannard in extra time secured a much-desired win over reigning Dubai Sevens Champions, Samoa. Despite being up 12-0 at half-time, Australia had to fight off a determined Samoan outfit to make their way to the Bowl Final against Portugal.

The three wins on day two will help the Qantas Men’s Sevens move on with renewed confidence in the next round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on 7 – 8 December 2013.