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Samu Kerevi was an unstoppable force for Australia’s men’s rugby sevens side in their Commonwealth Games opener, scoring a hat-trick in a 62-thrashing of Jamaica, but the Aussies then suffered a setback with a shock draw.
The Africans held Australia’s sevens super stars to a 12-12 draw and missed a kick at the death to win the game after Australia ended the game with five on the park.
There were no such stumbles for the women as they scored 88 points to zero in their two games, walloping South Africa 38-0 and Scotland 50-0.
Kerevi, who is on secondment from the Test team, took just 10 seconds to score and made it a first-half hat-trick as the Aussies blew Jamaica off the park in Birmingham.
Coming in off the back of victory in the London Sevens series earlier this year, the crushing win saw captain Nick Malouf and vice-skipper Maurice Longbottom add their own tries shortly after Kerevi’s early double blow.
Despite the confident start, things went downhill in game two early Saturday AEST.
Malouf opened the scoring but Desire Ayera gave Uganda a 7-5 lead at the break. A huge tackle from Waratah Mark Nawaqantiawase led to a Henry Hutchison try.
John Manenti’s side then lost Longbottom and Dietrich Roache to yellow cards and Philip Wokorach crossed with two minutes to play then missed the conversion attempt on the siren.
Meanwhile, Australia’s women’s sevens side made a significant statement to start their campaign.
Led by doubles from stars Maddison Levi and Charlotte Caslick, the Aussies scored within the first minute of play and never looked back in the game against South Africa.
Off the back of a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and a disappointing fifth place at last year’s Olympics, an in-form Australian team look keen to atone this time around; heading in off the back of a World Series title in Canada over New Zealand, the team proved their status as one of the tournament’s favourites is accurate.
Caslick’s spectacular 80-metre try from the second-half kick-off summed up the difference between the two sides, with an inexperienced South African team unable to cope with the Australian speed.
In the later game Levi scored a hat-trick and opened the scoring as Tim Walsh’s side cruised to a commanding lead with Scotland down a player.
Levi’s second and further tries to Sariah Paki and Sharni Williams gave them a 28-0 halftime lead.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.