7SWGPS 2018: first playoff teams revealed
The first matches of the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Grand Prix Series were played in Tatarstan’s capital city, and the first playoff teams became known after the morning session of Day 1. Though, the show is still on in one of the groups, three teams competing for one berth of the next round.
The morning session of Day 1 began with France vs Germany. The French are the leaders of the European season, but they have a makeshift lineup come to Kazan, as their head coach David Courteix says. Nevertheless, they started the group stage confidently, beating the Germans with the score 22-0, and won against Spain in the second round (17-5). In the same Group A, Belgium had no problem facing Spain (12-0) and Germany (40-0). Thus, the French and Belgian rugby players made into the playoff of the Kazan leg, while their head-to-head competition in the evening session of Day 1 will define the final standings of the teams in the group.
Team Poland as leader of Group C was not expected at all. They got the better of Ireland (17-14) and England (24-14), securing a place in the next round of the tournament. The perspectives of Ireland and England depended on the head-to-head encounter and matches against Italy. The Irish beat the Italians with the score 12-7, whereas England vs Italy ended in a draw (17-17). After the two rounds the second berth into the playoff is still vacant, so an uncompromising battle is guaranteed for the spectators in the finish line of the group stage.
Team Russia plays against Portugal, Scotland and Wales in Group B. The current champion of Europe had to start the tournament with the match against the Portuguese players. The difference in class was obvious both on the field and on the scoreboard. 38-0 in favour of the Russians took away the breath of the stands at the Central Stadium. Scotland and Wales met in the concurrent game of the same group. To gain momentum twice was enough for the Scottish girls to achieve a positive effect of +15 points to the score. In the second round the Welsh team was expected to beat Portugal (26-12), while the Russians ended the evening session with a defeat - Andrey Kuzin’s powerhouse smashed Scotland with the score 47-0, thus providing a place in the playoff of the domestic leg of the Rugby Europe Women’s Sevens Grand Prix Series.