The New Zealand Black Ferns Sevens clinched their seventh HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series title with back-to-back group wins in Toulouse on Friday, 12 May 2023.
Under the cheers of the children massed in the stands of the Ernest-Wallon stadium, the opening day of the final event of the women’s 2023 Series offered a lot of shocks and surprises, between showers and sunshine.
From New Zealand’s crown, Ireland’s victory over France, Sophie de Goede’s debut in the sevens, guest team Poland’s first try, Maddison Levi’s record number of tries scored in a season and Australia’s biggest score of the day against Brazil (52-0), day one of the last women’s stop of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series lived up to its hype.
The Black Ferns Sevens, along with hosts France, Australia – the only other nation to win a women’s Series event this season – and USA have already qualified for Paris 2024, leaving the remaining spot to be decided this weekend with just four points separating Ireland (64), Fiji (62) and Great Britain (60).
If Ireland finish ahead of both Fiji and Great Britain in the end-of-weekend standings, they will secure the final Paris 2024 spot. For Fiji to claim qualification, they need to finish one place higher than Great Britain and two places ahead of Ireland while Great Britain need to finish two places higher than Fiji and three above Ireland to book their ticket to Paris next July.
The quarter-final line-up is still taking shape with a final pool match to be played for each team on Saturday. Only New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain and Fiji have two wins from two matches.
In Pool A on day two, USA start as favourites against Poland, while New Zealand go into their match against Canada confident of extending their 20-game winning streak against the team.
In Pool B, after falling to Ireland, France will have to aim for a win against Australia, against whom they have won only once of their last four matches, 10-5 in Sydney. But Les Bleues have never managed to beat Australia at home, losing all four of their previous attempts. Against Brazil, Ireland will be looking to pick up as many points as possible in the hopes of maintaining their lead for automatic qualification for Paris 2024.
In Pool C, Fiji will be looking to build on their two wins on the opening day against Great Britain, a team two places below them in the rankings. Fiji have won only two of their previous eight matches this season (Hamilton and Vancouver). Both teams are looking forward to this match in the hope of reaching the quarter-finals and qualifying for Paris 2024 by Sunday. The match between Japan (9th in the standings) and Spain (10th in the standings) promises to be very close.
The quarter-finals of the women’s tournament will start at 15:26 (GMT +2).
Photo 1 Caption: The New Zealand Black Ferns Sevens clinched their seventh HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series title with back-to-back group wins in Toulouse on Friday, 12 May 2023. Photo: World Rugby 7s/NZ Sevens (Instagram)
With editing by gsport
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