World Sevens Series: Houston. Day 1.

Day One (1st February)

Pool A

New Zealand were simply far too strong for Trindad & Tobago in the opening game. Tries from Kayla McAlister, Kendra Cocksedge, and two from Shakira Baker and Honey Hireme saw them home. The next game between England and the Dutch on the other hand, was a real battle. Emily Scarratt made some superb tackles for England whose tries came from Laybourn, Richardson and Merchant while Netherlands scored through Van Harskamp in the first half and had some decent chances late on.

In round two Netherlands initially matched New Zealand with tries by van Rossum and van Harskamp cancelling out Kiwi scores. But New Zealand went ahead before break with a try from Sarah Goss before pulling away in the second half to record a comfortable 35-14 win. England beat Trinidad 48-0 but Trinidad had some good plays and they will have some positives to take out of it. For England, Staniford had a great second half with some well finished scores.

Netherlands won their first game of the tournament with 38-5 over Trinidad & Tobago, who were thrilled to have scored their first points! Captain Julia Straker touched down in the final minute, having impressed spectators with her tackling throughout the game, which kept the Dutch score down. However, the result was good enough to see Netherlands into the quarter-finals. England then won an an awesome end-to end-game 7-5 against New Zealland. New Zealand scored right on the fulltime whistle but it was too little too late.  England's try by Natasha Hunt early in the first half was followed by an astonishing defensive display, led by Heather Fisher, which made life incredibly difficult for New Zealand. England therefore top the group, and go into day two as top seeds.

Pool B

South Africa got off to a flying start with a 27-0 win over Argentina, who fell away somewhat in the final few minutes. South Africa score five tries with Phumeza Gadu completing a hat-trick and Meiring scoring two. Argentina got little ball but made some fine tackles, especially Gisele Acuna who tackles well above her size!

The final game of round one was the hosts against Canada. In the end the 12-12. tie was a fair result, but USA will have been disappointed as they had all the momentum second half. Canada  lead 12-7 at halftime with a try from Brittany Waters early on, followed by another from Magali Harvey. USA then hit back with a superb score right at halftime from Nathalie Marchino and tied the game with a try from Kelly Griffin in the second half.

In round two, an awesome second half saw South Africa recover from 17-0 down to take a 19-17 lead with seconds remaining - only for the USA to score through Lauren Doyle from the final play to win 22-19. Canada then eased home with a convincing 31-0 win over Argentina, who put up a brave fight throughout and certainly didn't lie down.  USA won easily against Argentina 41-0 and Canada rounded off with a win over South Africa.

Pool C

Australia began with a comfortable win over Japan. The Japanese girls defended bravely but couldn’t quite match the power and pace put on the ball by the more experienced Australians whose two second half tries, from Gemma Etheridge and Cobie Jane Morgan, added to three in the first half by Shontelle Stowers, Tricia Brown and Nikki Etheridge.  Marie Yamaguchi scored for Japan at the end of the first half, and Noriko Tanigucho scored a late consolation try at the end of the second.

In their opening game Russia dominated the first half, with tries for Rusiet Edidzhi, Baizat Khamidova, Rusiet Edidzhi and Ekaterina Kazakova. Brazil's defence was much better in the second half and the only score came from the speedy Khamidova out wide.

Australia began round two with a 22-0 win over Brazil, with tries from Ili Batibasaga, Ella Green and Shontelle Stowers. Japan found Russia's physicality difficult to cope with but battled back late in the game to get a try of their own through Yoko Suzuki.

Japan gained their first win in the tournament with an entertaining 17-12 win over Brazil, all of the points coming in the first half. Australia won a tough, very physical, battle with Russia. Khamidova opened the scoring for Russia, but tries from Brown and Etheridge put Australia ahead midway through the first half - a lead they held until the end.

Cup Quarter-Final Line-Ups

England V NetherlandsCanada V New ZealandUSA V RussiaAustralia V South Africa

Bowl Semi-Finals

Japan V Trinidad & TobagoBrazil V Argentina