It was the women’s turn to shine on Sunday as the Olympics Games Paris 2024 women’s rugby sevens competition got off to a flying start at Stade de France, in front of a record crowd of 66,000 for a women’s rugby event, beating the previous record of 54,498 at Twickenham for England v France in 2023.
Rio 2016 gold medallists and SVNS 2024 Grand Final champions Australia set out their stall on day one as they cruised past South Africa and Great Britain to go top of Pool B and book their place in the quarter-finals, scoring 12 tries in the process including an incredible seven for their try scoring machine Maddison Levi.
USA, France and New Zealand also secured their spots in the knockouts while China pulled off the upset of the day as they beat Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists Fiji by 40-12.
Reigning Olympic champions New Zealand ended day one top of Pool A after closing out the day’s action with an impressive 33-7 defeat of Canada, adding to their earlier 43-5 victory against China.
Jorja Miller scored a brace of tries in their opening half against Canada, Risi Pouri-Lane getting another to give them a 19-7 lead at the break. Two more from Jazmin Felix-Hotham and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe sent them into day two with a spring in their step.
Meanwhile, Fiji slumped to two losses from two, edged 17-14 by Canada in their opener before their shock loss to China. Fiji had led the game 7-5 after three minutes but next season’s SVNS series newcomers kept coming at them, crossing for six tries to record a famous Olympic victory.
Australia got off to a flying start against South Africa in their opener, Maddison Levi and Faith Nathan both dotting down in the right corner inside the first four minutes. Levi scored twice more to complete her hattrick before the break, taking Australia 24-0 ahead before adding a fourth in the second half. Her sister Teagen also got in on the action with a try of her own in a 34-5 win.
They took on Great Britain in their second outing, and while GB’s Heather Cowell opened the scoring after Ellie Kildunne’s break, Maddison Levi soon levelled things at the other end in the first of six unanswered Australian tries. Levi added two more to take her personal tally to seven with Bienne Terita, Teagen Levi and Nathan taking them to a 36-5 victory.
Great Britain, however, will head into day two second in the pool after they beat Ireland 21-12 in their opening game. Ireland recovered well to beat South Africa 38-0 in their second game, tries from Beibhinn Parsons, Stacey Flood, Vicki Elmes Kinlan, Eve Higgins and Murphy-Crowe in a dominant second half keeping them in the fight for quarter-final qualification.
USA got their Olympic campaign off to a strong start as they defeated Japan 36-7 in Pool C. Japan had got the first points of the game through Sakura Mizutani, but from there on it was all USA Eagles, Kristi Kirshe scoring a brace in a six-try conquest.
A 24-5 win against Brazil in their second game took them into day two unbeaten, with a showdown against France to decide the pool in store.
Hosts France thrilled the boisterous home crowd by also ending the day unbeaten after convincing wins against Brazil and Japan without conceding a point. They won 26-0 in their opener against the South Americans before a bombarding performance against Japan ended 49-0 in their favour, scoring seven tries on their way to the Pool C summit.
The women’s sevens continues on Monday with the final round of pool matches from 14:00 local time (GMT+2) before the quarter-finals begin at 20:00 ahead of finals day on Tuesday 30 July.
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “After a scintillating men’s competition at these special coming of age Games for Rugby Sevens, it is fitting that yet another record has been smashed. With the world’s best women’s sevens players shining brightly on sport’s biggest stage, 66,000 fans were gripped by the action, while an unprecedented broadcast and digital audience will ensure that more young people in more nations and communities will be inspired by these awesome athletes, who are amongst the best in the world in sport.”
Australia captain Charlotte Caslick on what the team learned from not getting a medal at Tokyo 2020: “It is a part of sport that it brings highs and lows. But we have achieved a lot since then so we have definitely moved on and are really looking forward to this campaign. That loss in Tokyo has really helped us to grow.
“We have a lot of girls coming back after injuries. We do not have Kaitlin (Shave) who is out of the Olympics after an injury in the first game. But there are still many girls who are able to adapt to anything and they can do really well at this tournament.
“We just have to keep doing what we do, to keep performing. We don’t do it for recognition, we do it because we love each other and we love this sport. Hopefully, if we’re successful here we’ll go a long way.”
New Zealand captain Sarah Hirini on playing her first match since a serious knee injury in December: “It means a lot. It’s been a tough journey but I’m so grateful to the people around me to get me back to this point. I’m so happy to be back with the team and on the big stage.
On her fight to make the Olympic Games: “There have been a lot of doubts and a lot of isolation. I completely took myself away but we have an amazing medical team, they literally had every resource possible. I’m so proud to be back representing my family, everyone back in New Zealand.
“Wearing this black jersey means everything. It gives you superpowers. It has such a legacy and it’s one of the most powerful tools we can hold on to for a set amount of time. And when the time comes you give it to the next person.”
