Dubai
Australia equalled New Zealand’s record of three Dubai women’s cup final wins after thrashing USA 34-0 in the first round of the five-stage Women’s World Series yesterday.
Emma Tonegato, Sharni Williams and Player of the Tournament Evania Pelite had Australia three tries up before half-time, only the last of which was successfully converted by Emma Sykes to make it 17-0 at the interval.
Emilee Cherry then added to the tally with two from Dominique Du Toit in the second half, with Sykes converting the last to end it 34-0.
Australia got this far after topping Pool B with wins over Japan 27-0, England 22-7 and Russia 31-12 on Thursday, before beating England 29-12 in the quarters and Canada 25-7 in the semis.
“The semi-final really put us in good stead,” said Australia coach Tim Walsh. “They really performed well there and executed exactly what we wanted them to do.
“Then against the USA, with a result like that, scoring a lot of points and nailing it, I’m really pleased with the whole tournament.
“It was an exceptional performance from the team, particularly Evania Pelite, I thought she was absolutely world class in so many aspects today.
The USA meanwhile, recorded their best finish in Dubai by getting this far, having previously only come third in the plate in 2014 and winning the bowl in 2012. It also equalled their best ever finish in a World Series tournament.
Only qualifying for the cup quarters by virtue of being the third best runner up, they then stunned Dubai and Series defending champions New Zealand 14-12 in the quarters and beat Russia 21-12 in the semis.
New Zealand coach Allan Bunting said: “It was a pretty good weekend but there were a couple of moments in that quarter-final against the USA that changed everything.
