With many of the world’s top teams and best players on show, the speed, skill and end-to-end rugby sevens was delivered as the top seeds showed their class to claim victories on day one in front of a packed crowd which included HRH The Princess Royal and The Earl and Countess of Wessex. SEE RESULTS, POOLS AND MATCH SCHEDULE » In the women’s event, which features eight teams in two groups of four, New Zealand are aiming to retain the title they won four years ago, but the Olympic champions will have to overcome Australia, who claimed the World Series title earlier this year and an impressive Fiji, who were bronze medalists in Tokyo last year. On the first day of the women’s competition in Coventry, Australia and Fiji secured their places in Saturday’s semi-finals, defeating Scotland and South Africa to secure safe passage from Pool B. In Pool A, reigning Olympic and Commonwealth champions New Zealand began their campaign in fine form with a 45-7 win against Canada, before a record 60-0 triumph over Sri Lanka that included a sensational six-try haul Michaela Blyde. New Zealand take on England in a crucial third and final pool match at 10:06 BST on Saturday. The hosts had mixed fortunes on day one with a 57-0 win over Sri Lanka, which saw Ellie Boatman score four first-half tries, followed by a 26-19 loss to Canada, meaning they are likely to have to beat New Zealand. to qualify for the semi-finals. In the men’s competition, which features 16 teams in four groups of four, double men’s Olympic champions Fiji face stiff competition from Commonwealth title holders New Zealand and HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series leaders South Africa, among others possible medals. South Africa and Scotland secured their place in the quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon with wins over Tonga and Malaysia in Group B. An impressive Scotland side crushed Tonga 41-0 and Malaysia 50-12. South Africa beat Malaysia 46-0 before beating Tonga 36-5. Meanwhile, New Zealand, Fiji and Kenya lead Pools A, C and D respectively with perfect winning records on Friday but will have to confirm their progress in the final pool matches on Saturday morning. Perhaps the match of the day saw Uganda take a pulsating 12-12 draw with Australia in Pool D as the men from Down Under were temporarily reduced to five men and Uganda narrowly missed out on a historic win with the last kick of the match as a penalty attempt rolled with agony. Earlier in the day, Australia got off to a flying start as a first-half hat-trick from Samu Kerevi helped them to a 62-0 win over Jamaica. However, Kenya’s 27-14 win over Uganda means Australia still have work to do in their final pool match against Kenya to secure their place in the quarter-finals. Reigning champions New Zealand showed all their resilience to fight back from 17-0 down in an impressive Samoan outfit, eventually earning a hard-fought 19-17 win to add to their earlier win over Sri Lanka and the Pool A leaders .Hosts England have their work cut out for them after a heavy 34-0 first-leg loss to Samoa but bounced back to win 47-19 over Sri Lanka, who keep their hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals. Olympic champions Fiji, who have never won Commonwealth gold, top Pool C after a convincing 52-0 win over Zambia followed by a hard-fought 19-12 win over Canada. Zambia scored their first Commonwealth Games try in a 38-5 rout of Wales, who were earlier beaten 31-0 by Canada, and will likely need to pull off a shock result against Fiji to progress to the quarter-finals. New Zealand star Tyla Nathan-Wong was pleased with the Black Ferns’ opening day Sevens performances: “It was very good and there are a few things we need to clear up some evidence of the opening match wasn’t the best and you can’t do that against the bigger teams. We’ve got a few things to sort out and we’re looking forward to day two and England.” The competition continues on Saturday with the final round of pool matches in the morning period from 09:00 to 13:30 BST. Hosts England take on New Zealand in crucial pool finals on Saturday, with the women going head-to-head at 10:06 BST and the men’s teams facing each other at 11:34 BST. England men’s player Jamie Adamson is looking forward to taking on the All Blacks Sevens: “Sevens is a funny game and tomorrow we fly to New Zealand and see what comes of it. We have to go tomorrow with our heads up, with the right attitude and hopefully we will come out on top.” The competition reaches its exciting knockout phase as the women’s semi-finals and men’s quarter-finals take place on Saturday evening from 17:30 to 22:30 BST, with the medals being decided on Sunday evening. A few remaining tickets are still available, starting from just £8 for under 16s and £15 for adults. Fans should visit www.birmingham2022.com for details.
Royalty-free images are available through the World Rugby Media Zone.