The Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 got underway in dramatic fashion on Friday at the Cape Town Stadium as the marquee teams triumphed in a day of crucial elimination games.
The tournament’s eighth edition is being hosted in Cape Town; it is the first time that it has been staged in Africa. At the opening of the three-day event, which is anticipated to draw a record-breaking 150,000 spectators, a raucous audience cheered on the top players in the world.
New Zealand, the defending winners in both the men’s and women’s competitions, got off to a great start in both as the men defeated Scotland and the ladies defeated Colombia.
The winner-takes-all knockout system does not allow for much room for error, but the favorites in both competitions handled the pressure admirably.
In the men’s competition, defending champions Australia easily defeated Uruguay, while fan favorites Fiji defeated Wales.
In the day’s last match, the hosts South Africa defeated Chile, exciting the home audience with a sparkling display of tries that highlighted the Blitzboks’ wide range of technical and physical prowess.
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The Olympic bronze medalists Argentina, Ireland, France, Samoa, and Samoa all advanced, setting up some tantalizing quarterfinal matchups for Saturday.
Faith Nathan’s incredible five tries allowed Australia’s women, who were also World Series champions and top seeds, destroy debutants Madagascar, and Jaz Gray’s hat-trick gave the USA victory against Poland.
South Africa’s female athletes were up against third-seeded France, but despite the loud support of the home fans, Les Bleues benefited from the energy and won 29-0.
In addition to Canada, England, Ireland, Fiji, and other nations advanced to the Championship bracket’s final eight.
Best seeds after a season in which they won six World Series tournaments and had a 36-match winning run, South Africa entered the men’s RWC Sevens with high expectations of capturing the championship at home.
After a fantastic 32-5 victory over Chile, they narrowly came in second place in the Series, but the early indications suggest they may surpass that this weekend.
After 26 seconds, Angelo Davids gave the Blitzboks the lead by chasing a punt and picking up the bobbling ball with his left hand to cross the try line.
Joaquin Huici’s touchdown late in the first half gave the South Americans some optimism, but the hosts’ kicking game proved to be an issue as Sakoyisa Makata and Christie Grobbelaar retrieved cross-field kicks to score.
It didn’t last long, though, as Ronald Brown recovered a lost ball and dashed clear to restore South Africa’s lead early in the second half. Later, Davids scored his second goal in the corner after Mfundo Ndhlovu outran a defender to cross the ball.
Australia has been in excellent form this year, and that continued with a crushing 35-0 victory over Uruguay. This victory will give Australia more confidence as the tournament’s final stretch approaches.
Two of their World Series champions, Henry Paterson and Maurice Longbottom, each scored twice as an Australian side full of self-assurance defeated the South Americans.
When Morgan Williams raced over the line to give Wales a surprising lead in their Round of 16 match, there may have been some jitters in the Fijian camp.
But if they did, they quickly disappeared as the Flying Fijians upped their game and won 29-5.
Before Joseva Talacolo rode a tackle to move free and give Fiji the lead, Kaminieli Rasaku fought off a defender to blast over in an instant.
The Pacific Islanders had a chance to struggle after receiving a yellow card late in the first half, but Viwa Naduvalo helped them increase their lead instead.
Sevuloni Mocenacagi’s spectacular touchdown, which made him their sixth try scorer, was the game’s high point. He raced the entire length and was unable to be stopped in midair.
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