Australia’s world champion girls’s rugby sevens workforce have certified for subsequent 12 months’s Olympics in a brilliant opening to an historic version of the Hong Kong Sevens.
As the game’s marquee annual occasion featured a girls’s match for the primary time in its 47-year historical past, the Charlotte Caslick-inspired World Cup winners opened up with group victories over Brazil and Eire on Friday.
It was sufficient to seal their place in Saturday’s quarter-finals, which assured their computerized qualification for Paris 2024, the place they are going to hope to regain the crown they received in Rio 2016 and make up for his or her disappointing quarter-final exit within the final Olympics in Tokyo.
Tim Walsh’s facet be part of New Zealand, USA and hosts France as the primary groups to guide their place on the Video games, and can now look to have fun by happening to win the inaugural Hong Kong occasion.
World sevens participant of the 12 months Caslick was in impressed temper as she scored three tries in Friday’s two video games, going over for a double in a 43-5 crushing of Brazil earlier than additionally scoring one other in a way more hard-fought 19-12 win over Eire.
The Irish had been urgent for a late equalizing strive when Australia’s scrum trio received one towards the top with a strong shove, and Caslick booted the ensuing penalty joyfully into the group with the Olympic place assured.
Maddison Levi was additionally in acquainted prolific try-scoring mode, grabbing a brace within the Brazil match that takes her to 46 on this season’s World Collection matches, a report for an Australian participant and simply six behind the ladies’s report set by New Zealand’s Portia Woodman with 52 in 2014-15.
Levi’s youthful sister, teenager Teagan Levi additionally received in on the act, scoring a strive in every sport and kicking 5 conversions in whole.
Within the males’s occasion, John Manenti’s Australian facet, the reigning champions, additionally made a nice begin of their bid to create a bit of rugby historical past by profitable two Hong Kong Sevens titles in the identical season.
They have been given the possibility due to a calendar change which means the 2023 occasion is again in its common springtime spot after being staged in November final 12 months for the primary time since 2019.
Of their sole sport of the day, the Australians outplayed Japan 26-5, with two tries from Matthew Gonzalez and different scores from Maurice Longbottom and Dietrich Roache.
