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.
Tez
Roar Rookie
I did not know Marky Mark was part of the 7s squad
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Wow . What did make of that ?
Double Agent
Guest
I'm spewing about if FB. Can't believe it. Maybe the Olympics but not the CGs.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
I’m amazed Wallabies fans seem so relaxed about Kerevi missing from the RC for the Commonwealth Games. I’d be spitting feathers if a key England player missed the first 6 Nations match.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Awesome. Tell me about the other two?
dazell
Roar Rookie
Why were the two Aussie men yellow carded didn't realise the game against Uganda was on?
jameswm
Roar Guru
What does the draw mean for our qualification for the final?
PeterCtheThird
Guest
Dear TLN, Not “a” third. “The” Third. :-) But thank you.
ozziedude
Roar Rookie
The Samoans have come back to their old form years from nowhere the last 6 months or so.. i think were leading Nz for a bit. Didnt see the end tho
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
Watch here: 19 minutes 30 seconds in, NZ Women vs Canada, final try. Great handling. https://7plus.com.au/commonwealth-games-birmingham-rugby-sevens?episode-id=2RUG01-005
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Just watching the game. Men against boys. We need to rein in the noise. This win means nothing
Colvin Brown
Roar Guru
Yes they looked great oz :happy:
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
I watched the Samoans live here. Either they were very good or England were very crap
The Late News
Roar Rookie
No I didn't make 'er.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Sure we will drop it 66.66% so we can also be a third.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Totally. He plays like an NFL running back! Digby Ione was quite similar actually.
Colvin Brown
Roar Guru
Both the Aussie teams look good. The Kiwi's are good too, and the Fijians. I'm not up to date with SA. Let's hope the SH can pull off both tournaments.
PeterCtheThird
Guest
Could you please dial the hysteria way way down? Crushing, mauling, blew them off the park…i.e., a result as expected. The carry-on is not necessary. Could you also explain your claim that Samu Kerevi’s presence in the men’s team “‘leaves Australia one of the heavy favourites to claim their first rugby sevens gold medal in either the men’s or women’s event.” I would, with as much respect as I can muster, suggest that, say, Charlotte Caslick might be just a touch more important to the women’s team than Kerevi.
Ankle-tapped Waterboy
Roar Rookie
Samoa’s astonishing win over England is an eye-opener (mens’ team). The New Zealanders look very good, both mens’ and womens’. Blitzbokke remorseless and organised.
Malo
Guest
Kerevi is an all time great. We can’t win without him.