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The Women’s Eagles created history on Sunday, defeating New Zealand in Biarritz to claim their first ever Cup Final victory. It capped a memorable weekend for the side as they secured their place in the 2020 Olympics on Saturday and finished a best-ever 2nd overall on the 2018-19 HSBC Sevens Series.
It was a surprisingly dominant win against the overall series leaders in the Final. Two first-half tries from Alev Kelter, named player of the Final, gave the USA a 19-5 lead that they would not relinquish, closing out a 26-10 result to lift the Cup for the first time.
They showed impressive form to finish the tournament a perfect 6 wins from 6 games. A Kristen Thomas double against Russia highlighted a 27-12 win in the Quarter Final, with two Naya Tapper tries paving the way in the 24-7 win over Spain in the Semi Final.
Canada got over their loss to Australia on Day One by defeating France 12-5 in their Quarter Final. They faced off against New Zealand in the Semis but came up short. Charity Williams scored a late try to secure a 19-14 win over Spain in the Bronze Final.
The third-place finish in Biarritz assures the same ranking overall on the year for the Canadians. New Zealand are the 2018-19 Series champions with Australia, the 2016 Olympic Gold Medalists, closing out the top four who have all earned automatic qualification for Tokyo 2020.
At the other end of the scale, it’s China who drop out of Core status. They tied with Fiji on series points but lose out on scoring differential. Japan won promotion to the expanded 2019-2020 circuit by claiming victory in Hong Kong earlier this year.
With no need to compete at the Rugby Americas North qualifying tournament in George Town, the next stop for Canada and the USA will be Lima, Peru, for the Pan-Am Games in late July.
DAY TWO RESULTS
CUP QUARTER FINALS
Australia 14 – 15 Spain
USA 27 – 12 Russia
Canada 12 – 5 France
New Zealand 36 – 0 China
TROPHY SEMI FINALS
England 24 – 17 Ireland
Scotland 10 – 31 Fiji
5th PLACE SEMI FINALS
Australia 31 – 21 Russia
France 21 – 14 China
CUP SEMI FINALS
Spain 7 – 24 USA
Canada 12 – 21 New Zealand
11th PLACE FINAL
Ireland 14 – 26 Scotland
TROPHY FINAL
England 10 – 27 Fiji
7th PLACE FINAL
Russia 12 – 26 China
5th PLACE FINAL
Australia 24 – 10 France
BRONZE FINAL
Spain 14 – 19 Canada
CUP FINAL
USA 26 – 10 New Zealand
