7SWGPS: all quarterfinalists determined on day 1

Preliminary matches of the first leg of the Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series wrapped up in Kazan today. The following teams managed to advance to the quarterfinal: France, Netherlands, Russia, Portugal, Great Britain 1, Great Britain 2, Ireland and Spain. 

The tournament that takes place at the Central Stadium, Kazan brought together 12 teams. Having won all three matches in the preliminary round today, Team Russia placed first in Group B. In the final game of the group stage, the Russian rugby sevens players beat Ireland, 29-5. 

After the match, the Russian team head coach, Pavel Baranovsky, admitted that he never is completely satisfied with his squad's performance. "This victory over Ireland was necessary so that the girls gain more confidence ahead of the Olympic qualification," he said. According to the head coach, Portugal is not the best option for the quarterfinal. "Later on we are about to face the teams of Great Britain and France, which are way stronger, whereas Portugal is a good and well-knitted team but it has a lower skill level yet," he added. 

"As a coach, quite possibly, I will never be happy with our performance because there are always enough errors that need to be corrected. Our goal is not just to pull ourselves together and to beat Ireland. But also to demonstrate such a spectacular play that people coming to the stadium enjoy watching the rugby action. And to give our team a chance to dominate the field, to play less in defense and to attack more," Baranovsky said. "The fact that we use the tournament in Kazan as preparation ahead of Dublin, where the Rio qualification event will be held, is not true. We arrived here to demonstrate a stunning game to spectators so that this sport will be loved in Russia and become popular."

When asked about the Russian team's position in the world rankings, the head coach said that currently the team is placed seventh. "We have only strong teams here - New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, France. In these countries, rugby is a number one sport. And the fact that Russia is the seventh best rugby nation in the world is a good thing," he said.

Group stage results: 

France — Finland, 51-0 (22-0);

Netherlands — Great Britain 2, 10-19 (5-7);

Spain — Portugal, 12-7 (0-7);

Great Britain 1 — Ukraine, 48-0 (24-0);

Ireland — Italy, 31-0 (14-0);

Russia — Belgium, 54-0 (35-0);

France — Great Britain 2, 31-7 (12-7);

Netherlands — Finland, 26-7 (5-0);

Spain — Ukraine, 48-7 (24-0);

Great Britain 1 — Portugal, 40-0 (19-0);

Ireland — Belgium, 12-7 (7-7);

Russia — Italy, 26-0 (14-0);

France — Netherlands, 35-10 (14-10);

Great Britain 2 — Finland, 44-0 (12-0);

Spain — Great Britain 1, 0-64 (0-38);

Ukraine — Portugal, 7-38 (0-26);

Italy — Belgium, 24-19 (7-14);

Russia — Ireland, 29-5 (19-5).