Australia Blanks Canada for Sao Paulo 7s Title

Australia claimed the crown at the second round of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in Sao Paulo on Sunday.

In a downpour in the Brazilian city, Shannon Parry led her team to a 29-0 win over Canada, who had earlier shocked reigning champions New Zealand in the semi-finals with a wonder try from captain Jen Kish.

With the Olympic Games looming large in Brazil, the Sao Paulo event saw a samba atmosphere at Arena Barueri where many of the teams who will play in Rio de Janeiro in August set out their stall as the Games edge even closer.

Russia beat Japan to win the Bowl, while France overcame Fiji 17-5 in the Plate final. Third place went to New Zealand, who, despite improving on their fifth place finish in Dubai, will be disappointed not to have made the final in Brazil. They beat USA 28-0 in the pouring rain.

“WET WEATHER STRATEGY”

Recording back-to-back victories in the opening two rounds of the series, Australia’s road to their second title was hugely impressive as they showed their full box of tricks and managed the torrential rain in the Cup final.

Canada and Australia had each other, and the bucketing rain, to face in search of the title. The elements were hugely challenging but Australia handled them brilliantly and adjusted their game plan accordingly.

Two first-half tries from Evania Pelite and Alicia Quirk gave them a great platform and as the time ran down the scores kept on rolling in. With confidence at an all time high, Australian captain Shannon Parry was keeping her cool after the game.

“It was really tough and it’s Brazil, it always rains at night and I’m glad we put that wet-weather strategy into play and got the win,” said Parry.

Canadian captain Jen Kish was downbeat after the final, but pointed to the positives.

“They are a class act and a good team, but there were too many errors on our part and they took full advantage. But we’re a side that’s building, we’ll focus on (the next round in) Atlanta and we’ll continue to build. Winning is totally in our grasp and we believe but we just have to execute.”