Dubai, Upset City.
Might the opening hour of the 2015 Dubai 7s women’s competition be the most enthralling stretch in the entire history of the Women’s Sevens Series?
It just might have been: it’s hard to argue against Canada, New Zealand and the USA falling to less-fancied opponents.
The Canadians were first. They dropped the day’s opening tilt to Fiji – and the Fijiana were full value for the 24-10 win.
John Tait’s squad was missing six players from the dozen who won gold at the Pan Am Games in Toronto this summer. They looked sluggish. The Fijian women were quicker and made bigger impacts, both with the ball in hand and without. Under new coach Chris Cracknell, they are far more organized than the side which occasionally thrilled in 2014-15 but never played with any consistency.
“We played one minute of our plan game vs. Fiji. They are much improved but we had enough opportunities but didn’t play as a team when it came time to execute,” Tait said at the end of the day.
The Canadians turned things around against the Irish, dominating the defensive game and other than one defensive gaffe, keeping the game in the right half of the field. They grabbed two second half tries to run out deserved 19-7 winners.
Even then, the coach saw problems. “Too many lapses on defence and really should have put them away well before we did,” he said.
In the final game of the day for the women in red, they blitzed a mostly hapless American squad 35-5. The USA was very disappointing on the day, dropping all three matches, including their first game to Ireland. The Canadians were, simply put, more organized. They were also quicker in all aspects. Quicker at the breakdown, quicker moving the ball the width of the field, quicker to the line. It was an emphatic finish to a day which didn’t start so well.
The day’s third game saw Russia pull off an incredible surprise: not only did they defeat New Zealand, but they did so with seeming ease. They overwhelmed the defending champs 33-7. We saw glimpses of potential last season but it’s clear the Russians, like the Fijians have added to their game. They look stronger and fitter.
Although the point differentials say otherwise, apparently Russia ended the day as the number one seed and will face Spain in the cup quarters. Fiji is second and will play seventh-ranked France, while the Aussies dismissed the English to finish first in their group and third overall; they get an Antipodean showdown with archrival New Zealand. (If we went with point differential, it should be Australia 1 and Russia 2, with Fiji as three. Given that would result in Russia playing France, are global geo-politics at play?)
Canada will face the English in an early Friday morning clash. It’s early enough in Dubai that it will actually still be Thursday evening in Vancouver (10:36 p.m. PT). The live stream at worldrugby.org is the place as always.
You can watch all the day one action below.
HARVEY STARS
Five tries and six conversions were Magali Harvey’s haul on day one. With Ghislaine Landry knocked out of the squad following a midweek training ground injury, the 2014 World Women’s Player of the Year became the team’s primary strike runner. She spent much of 2014-15 trying to fight her way into the team; there’s little doubt she’s now on John Tait’s must-pick list.
None half-dozen injured regulars are expected to be out long term; Tait told The Province earlier this week all would be back in action and available for selection well ahead of the Sao Paulo stop, which goes in February.
Jen Kish had three tries on the day and Karen Paquin two.
SELECTION NOTES
Tait started the tournament with his seven of his most experienced players on the field: captain Kish was joined by Julia Greenshields, Kayla Moleschi, Brittany Benn, Harvey, Paquin and Kelly Russell. The veteran Mandy Marchak came on in the second half, then late in the game he got all his subs on (Caroline Crossley, Arielle Dubisette-Borrice, Emily Belchos and Megan Lukan).
It was a similar deployment vs. Ireland, but against the USA Lukan started in the place of Greenshields.
WOMEN’S SERIES GETS FIFTH STOP
When the HSBC Women’s Sevens Series schedule for 2015-16 was first released, there were gasps of incredulity. Although last season there were six stops, World Rugby announced this campaign would feature only four. It was an embarrassing revelation about the season which would lead into the debut of rugby sevens in the Olympics.
Credit the French for stepping into part of that gap: a fifth stop has been quietly added to the 2015-16 schedule. We only learned of the addition because of the opening sequence to the day’s broadcast, and then a brief mention by commentator Melodie Robinson. There’s still no official mention on the World Rugby website – more to come as details emerge.
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