Dubai: Australia secured their second Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens title with a 31-12 victory over Russia in the opening round of the four stage HSBC Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series at the Sevens Stadium on Friday.
The Ozzies were 10-7 up at half-time after pulling ahead with two unconverted tries from Amy Turner and Nicole Beck before being pegged back by a conversion and try from Alena Mikhaltsova and Nadezda Kudinova.
Russia got their noses in front after the interval with an unconverted try from Marina Petrova. But tries from Ellia Green, Emilee Cherry and Evania Pelite, with the final two both converted by Cherry, ensured the Ozzies romped home with their second Dubai title since 2013.
“We targeted Dubai,” said Australia coach Tim Walsh. “We love coming back here and just wanted to get the season off to a great start.
“It was interesting coming into round one and seeing what the teams had been working on and there were some upsets, but we were just trying to stay focused.
“It was really good to see the girls progress game-to-game and I thought they just got better and better and executed everything that we’d been working on in preseason. I was just pleased that we performed and I always believed that if we did that then we’d come away with a decent result.”
Australia got out of the group stages by beating Spain 26-7, Japan 43-0 and England 24-7 to top Pool C. They then edged three-time World Series champions and double Dubai winners New Zealand 15-12 in the quarter-final and France 26-0 in the semi-final.
Russia had topped Pool A with shock victories over New Zealand 33-7, France 21-17 and Brazil 41-0, before outclassing Spain 24-0 and England 19-12 in the quarter and semi stages.
England had earlier won the third place play-off after overturning France 10-5 in extra time, while New Zealand found solace in their performances with a 24-19 extra time victory over Canada in the plate final.
New Zealand coach Sean Horan said he saw positives from the series opener despite not contesting for the top prize.
“I think at the start of the campaign you’re always anxious to see what everyone springs on you, but the pleasing thing to see was that the two finalists are the two teams we lost against,” said Horan.
“Certain things really made me proud of the girls especially the way they bounced back twice [after defeats to Russia and Australia]. That just shows their character.
“I’m not at all surprised by Russia. They may not be known as a class out-and-out talent in rugby, but they are fit, fast and physical and they stay alive and that’s what sevens is all about, so they were worthy finalists.
“We were starting off again with some new girls and tried throwing new things around. A lot of people won’t see that, but at the end of the day there’s no other place to implement that than here and I think we learnt.”
HSBC Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series
Friday
19 Russia 24-0 Spain
20 Fiji 12-19 France
21 Australia 15-12 New Zealand
22 Canada 12-17 England
Bowl semi-final
Ireland 7-29 Brazil
USA 14-15 Japan
Plate semi-final
Spain 12-21 Canada
Fiji 12-33 New Zealand
Cup semi-final
Russia 19-12 England
Australia 26-0 France
11/12
USA 31-24 Ireland
Bowl final
Japan 13-0 Brazil
7/8
Fiji 31-14 Spain
Plate final
New Zealand 24-19 Canada (extra time)
3/4
England 10-5 France
Cup final
Australia 31-2 Russia
