Olympic Rugby Sevens: New Zealand and Australia impress to set up semi-final showdowns with USA and Canada

Adam Kyriacou

29 Jul 2024 10:20 PM

New Zealand, USA, Canada and Australia will contest the Rugby Sevens semi-finals.

New Zealand, USA, Canada and Australia will contest the women’s Rugby Sevens semi-finals after they beat China, Great Britain, France and Ireland respectively.

The knockout results in Paris on Monday evening mean that New Zealand will take on the USA before Canada face off against Australia to decide the Gold Medal finalists.

It was subsequently heartbreak for host nation France, who were floored by a late Canadian try in their 19-14 defeat as a packed out Stade de France was stunned.

New Zealand ease past China

The first quarter-final saw New Zealand recover from a Sarah Hirini yellow card to cruise to victory against a China side that had beaten Fiji 40-12 on Sunday night.

USA then won a thriller with Great Britain 17-7 as they bounced back from a loss to France in their final pool game earlier in the day to make it to the coveted last-four.

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It was then the turn of Australia and Ireland to conclude the day’s action and it was a procession for the former, who look serious contenders for the Gold medal tomorrow.

9th Place Semi-Finals

Before the Medal quarter-finals, the crowd was treated to the 9th Place Semi-Finals as Japan edged out South Africa 15-12 before Brazil stunned Fiji to claim a 28-22 victory.

That means Japan and Brazil will face off on Tuesday in the 9th Place Final while South Africa and Fiji battle for 11th spot after disappointing tournament efforts from the duo.

Records tumble again

It was also another day of records tumbling as New Zealand’s 55 points against China is a new team points record for a women’s rugby sevens fixture at an Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Maddison Levi picked up her 11th try at Paris 2024 to break Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s long-standing individual tournament try-scoring record.