Once again, the Aussies were on the front foot from the outset opening the scoring after just 51 seconds through Emilee Cherry after fine work from Charlotte Caslick and Chloe Dalton.
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But the crowd had swelled for the next game featuring New Zealand, for whom star winger Portia Woodman crossed for a hat-trick of tries as they brushed Kenya aside 52-0.
In the loss to Fiji, Carlyle outfought bigger foes to recover a loose ball with just over a minute left to give the USA possession, but it couldn’t get in scoring position.
“No team is weak”. “Having a full-contact game in the Olympics is pretty fantastic”.
The French, Canada and Britain also finished the day’s play unbeaten in blistering conditions with temperatures above 30 degrees celsius (84F) at the 15,000-seater Deodoro Stadium, which was at its best half-full.
Brazil won its first game of the tournament, with Beatriz Futuro Muhlbauer capping the victory by diving under the posts for her second try of the match against Japan directly in front of the biggest section of local fans, triggering raucous cheering in the nearly half-full temporary 15,000-seat stadium.
“The main goal was to win but the first try happened to come to me”.
“We haven’t got the loss against our name but it was definitely the kick up the trousers that we needed going into the quarterfinals”, Australia coach Tim Walsh said.
In the mixed zone, Grassineau, a bordelaise, was playing things cool: we’ll see in 10 years if it goes down in history; the important thing was the win, etc etc.
Spanish playmaker Patricia Garcia had the honour of kicking off.
“It’s a few years down the line now but it was a really exciting time for rugby to get back into the Olympics”, Kayange told the World Rugby website. The men’s competition starts Tuesday.
The growth in the game has been massive since the International Olympic Committee voted to include the sport, and World Rugby reported the percentage of female players has risen from 10 per cent to more than 30.
The tournament signalled the first time since 1924 that rugby has been played at the Olympics and the debut for sevens, the previous four incarnations featuring men’s 15-a-side tournaments.
At 11am this morning – August 6 – the first Olympic rugby match in more than 92 years was played at Deodoro Stadium.
“It’s nothing but a pleasure to see rugby here”.
But for Humphrey Kayange, this is the moment has been longing for after playing a key role in the Olympics bid for Sevens Rugby.
Potter played both games for the Americans on Saturday, wearing the No. 1 jersey and helping the team overcome a 12-7 loss to Fiji with a 48-0 win over Colombia that kept them in contention for the quarterfinals in the women’s rugby sevens tournament.
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The powerful New Zealand team had too much energy and skill for Kenya, with Woodman scoring in the opening minute of each half in her three-try haul – which could have been better except she dropped the ball when she was in the clear only meters from the tryline in the first half.
