Wales shock Aussie sevens side in quarters

The Blitzboks stunned the Nacanieli Cawanibuka-coached side with its pace and pressure rugby to score four tries against the Olympic Games and world champions.

England started the day with a dramatic 19-17 victory over Fiji, courtesy of Alice Richardson’s late conversion with tries from Heather Fisher and Watmore (2).

The quarter-final matchups Saturday are Fiji versus France, England versus Scotland, Australia versus Wales and South Africa versus five-time Dubai champion New Zealand. But their progress was halted in a 17-7 loss to Russian Federation.

The loss seemed to steel the Australians and they went on to beat New Zealand 20-12 and then Scotland 19-12.

Canada regained the lead in the opening minute of the second half when they grabbed their third try to ensure a 15-12 lead. Russian Federation finished seventh and Fiji eighth.

Tag Heuer Global Sports Director, Marc Biver said: “We are very proud to be the first luxury watch brand to enter into the world of rugby sevens”.

Earlier, the flying Portia Woodman had given New Zealand an early lead with a length of the field effort. They have won the season thrice in a row so I think it is always nice to play against them because you measure yourself against the best and see how far you are from being the best.

“Breanne Nichols, Hannah Darling and Charity Williams showed some signs of brilliance and I’m sure they’ll use the experience here in the desert to their benefit in future tournaments”.

Jerry Tuwai’s converted try from the second-half kickoff leveled the score, but not for long.

Walsh found some positives in the performance of World Series debutant Emma Sykes, but uncharacteristic mistakes from his more experienced campaigners left the side ruing missed chances. The Pacific Islanders’ previous best was sixth.

Landry’s 14 points in the match briefly put her atop the Series all-time scoring list at 617 points.

Russia’s failure to qualify for the Olympics was surely a reason for their improved performances in Dubai, and they tore into Canada in the morning heat on pitch two.