Australia's first ever women’s Sevens side ended the round robin stage of the Oceania regional qualifier for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 on top, matching the unbeaten records of the men’s pool winners Samoa and Tonga in Apia on Friday.
The Australians, coached by former men’s Sevens captain Shawn Mackay, had the chance to watch their opponents in action in their opening matches, before beating Fijiana – the Pacific Women's Sevens champions – 21-7 with two tries from Tricia Brown.
Seven players scored Australia’s eight tries – Brown grabbing another brace – in an impressive 46-0 defeat of hosts Samoa, before national touch representative Nicole Beck scored a hat-trick in her side’s 59-0 win over Niue.
That victory set up a top of the table clash with the first New Zealand women’s Sevens side, who had been equally impressive in their three opening matches, starting with a 29-0 defeat of Samoa with Selica Winiata claiming two tries.
Huriana Manuel, a member of the Black Ferns’ side that won the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2006, scored a hat-trick in a nine-try 59-0 defeat of Niue, before Victoria Grant matched her effort as New Zealand denied Fijiana the space they thrive on to triumph 31-10.
Fijiana bounce back well
Australia, though, came out firing in the battle of the unbeaten sides, scoring the opening try through Brown with further scores from Alex Hargreaves and Debby Hodgkinson completing a 15-5 victory.
The round robin winners now face Samoa again in the semi-finals on Saturday, the hosts having beaten Niue 48-0 to finish fourth with Seifono Misili scoring a hat-trick for her side, who are coached by former men’s Sevens coach Dicky Tafua.
Fijiana will play New Zealand in the other semi-final, the Pacific Sevens champions having opened with an impressive 55-0 defeat of Niue with Varanisese Viva, Elma Ratuuluva and Atasa Likutokalau scoring a brace and finished day one with a 17-12 win over Samoa.
The two finalists will both qualify for the first ever RWC Sevens women’s competition, joining the already qualified Brazil [South America], England, the Netherlands, Russia, France, Spain and Italy [Europe] in Dubai for the 5-7 March 2009 showpiece.
Four still dreaming of Dubai
In the men's competition Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands and Niue are also only one win away from qualifying as one of Oceania’s two representatives at the fifth RWC Sevens and joining the region’s automatic qualifiers Fiji, New Zealand and Australia in Dubai.
The hosts, featuring many of the players who helped Samoa finish third in last season’s IRB Sevens World Series, delighted the home crowd with David Lemi scoring two of their seven tries in an opening 47-5 defeat of Niue.
Captain Uale Mai, the all-time leading appearance maker in IRB Sevens World Series history with 54 events, then scored two tries in a 67-0 victory over Solomon Islands, before a 38-7 defeat of Papua New Guinea ensured top spot in Pool A.
PNG had been tipped to join Samoa in the semi-finals, but they suffered a surprise 17-12 loss to Niue, who nullified their opponent’s speedsters by limiting the width of the ball with Vincent Piitigia, Leonale Bourke and Afele Leona touching down.
Both Papua New Guinea and Niue ran out winners over Solomon Islands, the former by a more convincing 31-7 scoreline as Niue had to survive a late fightback to secure their 19-10 victory and a place in the semi-finals against Tonga.
Sione Fonua scores one of his three tries for Tonga against Vanuatu - Photo: Bruce Southwick/Zoomfiji.
The Tongans impressed in their three events on the IRB Sevens World Series earlier this year and signalled their intentions with a 39-0 defeat of Vanuatu in their opening Pool B match with Sione Fonua claiming a hat-trick of tries.
A determined Tahiti side provided a sterner test with an impressive three-try performance from Teu Nafe proving the difference between the sides as Tonga claimed a 26-7 victory.
The final Pool B match would, as expected, determine who finished top and so avoided a semi-final with Samoa, with Cook Islands having also beaten Tahiti 43-0 and Vanuatu 33-12.
That turned out to be Tonga, who triumphed 22-5 with Setaleki Lu’au – man of the match in the Tautahi Gold’s victory in the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup final in May – scoring one of his side’s four tries against Cook Islands.
The four other men’s sides will kick off day two at 12:00 local time [23:00 GMT] in the Plate semi-finals with Papua New Guinea facing Tahiti and Solomon Islands tackling Vanuatu, who picked up one win on Friday by defeating Tahiti 20-12.
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