Aussie, Kiwi women lay down marker

Five teams progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women’s Sevens at the Olympic Games in Rio on Saturday.

Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain and New Zealand were all unbeaten after the two sessions on day one and have advanced to the last eight with one pool game remaining.

In Pool A, Australia opened their campaign with a 53-0 victory over Colombia followed by a crushing 36-0 win over Fiji in the second session to finish the day top of their pool. Charlotte Caslick spearheaded Australia’s attack, scoring four tries, including a hat-trick against Colombia.

The USA and Fiji have one victory and one defeat each, but the American women pipped the Fijians to secure second spot behind Australia because they have a greater points difference.

The New Zealand women were equally impressive in two matches, beating Kenya 52-0 and Spain 31-5. Portia Woodman and Kayla McAlister led the way with four tries apiece. France also picked up easy wins over Spain and Kenya, but New Zealand qualify for the knockout stage as top seeds in Pool B with France in second place.

Canada’s campaign began with a 45-0 thrashing of Japan and a 38-0 win over hosts Brazil, while Great Britain were victorious against the same two sides. Canada and Great Britain will square off on day two to decide who finishes as Pool C top seeds.

There are still three quarter-final places available and mathematically every one of the remaining teams can still qualify. 

Fixtures
Results
Pool standings

Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images

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