- New Zealand pushed all the way by USA
- Australia, Canada and Great Britain also in medal hunt
- Fiji and Brazil entertain vibrant Deodoro Stadium crowd
- Mouth-watering semi-finals confirmed
Australia, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand have qualified for the semi-finals of the Olympic Games women’s rugby sevens, keeping their dreams of a gold medal alive as a breath-taking competition heads into its final day.
With the honour of winning rugby’s first Olympic medals in 92 years spurring the teams on, the quarter-finals saw Australia defeat Spain 24-0, Canada overcome France 15-5, Great Britain beat Fiji 26-7 and New Zealand edge USA 5-0.
Embracing the opportunity to showcase their talent on an unprecedented global stage, the world’s top players treated fans at the Deodoro Stadium to four high-quality, intense and compelling quarter-finals, which demonstrated the competitiveness and depth of the women’s game.
Semi-finals
Australia v Canada (14:30)
Great Britain v New Zealand (15:00)
Catch up with all the latest action on from World Rugby here.
You can see all the fixtures and results so far here.
Australia 24-0 Spain
HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series champions Australia were pushed all the way by a valiant Spanish side who had only confirmed their place in the competition via the repechage in late June. Tries from Charlotte Caslick (2), Emma Tonegato and Ellia Green secured victory for the top seeds.
France 5-15 Canada
Regular opponents on the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, France and Canada served-up a tense quarter-final, rousing an enthusiastic crowd. The scores were locked at 5-5 at half-time after tries from Jade Le Pesq and Kayla Moleschi and it took tries from Bianca Farella and Ghislaine Landry in the final two minutes to seal the victory
Great Britain 26-7 Fiji
Team GB continued their impressive form on day two with Abbie Brown scoring from the kick-off against Fiji. The Pacific islanders struck back with a wonderful team try finished by Litia Naiqato, before Alice Richardson and Joanne Watmore added tries to give Great Britain a 19-7 half-time lead. Despite spirited play from Fiji, Brown’s second try secured the semi-final for Great Britain.
New Zealand 5-0 USA
In a tight encounter New Zealand and USA were scoreless with only seconds to go in the first half until Portia Woodman broke through stoic defence to give the Kiwis a 5-0 lead at the break. The USA had the better of the second half, but couldn’t find a way through despite New Zealand losing Tyla Nathan-Wong to a yellow card.
Earlier in the session, hosts Brazil defeated Colombia 24-0 to progress to the ninth place play-off, where they will face Japan, who defeated Kenya by the same score. The winner of this play-off will secure core team status on the 2016-17 HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series.
Report courtesy of World Rugby
