There was much for the home fans to shout about under the Friday night lights as both USA teams recorded crowd-pleasing victories to set up an exciting weekend ahead at HSBC SVNS Los Angeles.
- Opening round of matches completed as the fifth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 began in Los Angeles on Friday
- Historic day for women’s SVNS with wins for hosts USA, leaders Australia, France, Brazil, New Zealand and Canada
- Men’s victories for USA, France, Fiji, Ireland, leaders Argentina and Australia
- Antoine Dupont scores impressive try for France in commanding win over Canada
- Play begins at 09:30 local time (GMT-8) on Saturday with tickets available at svns.com
History was made on the opening night of the fifth round of HSBC SVNS 2024 in Los Angeles as the 12 best women’s teams in the world competed alongside the men’s teams in a combined tournament for the first time in the USA.
There was much for the home fans to shout about under the Friday night lights as both USA teams recorded crowd-pleasing victories to set up an exciting weekend ahead at the Dignity Health Sports Park, the proposed venue for rugby sevens in the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
VIEW HSBC SVNS LA RESULTS, FIXTURES & POOLS >>
Australia lead the women’s standings and began their HSBC SVNS Los Angeles weekend in style, defeating Ireland by 31-0 after a fourth-place finish in Vancouver.
Righting the wrongs of their final loss on home soil in Perth against the same opposition, Australia scored five tries to take an early lead in Pool B.
Hosts USA, last champions on US soil in 2020, eased to a 40-5 victory over Spain in their Pool C opener, while last week’s gold medallists New Zealand also started strongly with a 41-5 demolition of South Africa in Pool A.
Brazil won their opening game against Olympic bronze medallists Fiji 12-5 to build on the improvements made in Vancouver.
Australia’s Sharni Smale celebrating her fiftieth tournament appearance said: “They crushed our dream obviously in Perth. We always speak about winning or learning and we had some big learnings. We definitely went out there and attacked it the way Australia normally play and we got those combos right. We’ve only played one game today and we’ll play two tomorrow and then three the next day and we’ll be better off for it.”
READ WOMEN’S DAY ONE REPORT >>
In the men’s competition USA won an enthralling battle by 31-12 with Samoa in Pool B to delight the home crowd.
A brace from captain Kevon Williams on his 50th tournament took the Eagles to victory and the summit of Pool B, with Australia and New Zealand to play tomorrow.
Meanwhile, defending LA champions New Zealand lost their Trans-Tasman tie with Australia by 17-24 in Pool B. The Aussies finished tenth last week in Vancouver but a red card for Fehi Fineanganofo helped them to victory over last week’s silver medallists.
Pool A saw plenty of drama as Argentina recovered to win 28-21 in a tense battle with Spain, while Ireland were dominant in their 17-0 win over South Africa to take an early Pool A lead.
Fiji and France were the victors in Pool C, the former snatching a 15-12 win over GB before Canada were defeated 24-7 by the latter.
Former World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year Antoine Dupont continued where he left off in Vancouver last weekend, playing every minute of Fance’s win over Canada and capping another impressive performance by scoring a last minute try.
USA’s Madison Hughes said: “We love playing in front of our home fans. It’s a good environment here on a Friday night but hopefully on Saturday they’ll take it to a whole new level and really get behind us because we are moving in the right direction and with some good home support we can make it a really special weekend.”
Argentina hold a 24 point lead in the men’s standings, having claimed three gold and one silver medals from the opening four rounds. Argentina have 78 points, ahead of Ireland and Fiji on 54 points.
Australia top the women’s standings with 72 points ahead of New Zealand in second on 66 points and France a further four points behind on 62 points.
VIEW CURRENT SVNS 2024 STANDINGS >>
The action continues at 09:30 local time (GMT-8) on Saturday with the last two rounds of pool matches before the men’s quarter-finals take place from 19:26 and the last match kicking off at 20:32.
Finals day on Sunday will begin at 09:30 with the women’s quarter-finals from 10:14. The semi-finals are scheduled from 13:46 and the event reaches its climax with the women’s and men’s finals at 17:43 and 18:32 respectively.
You can watch the HSBC SVNS action wherever you are in the world, either via broadcaster partners or online on RugbyPass TV.
Fans attending the HSBC SVNS Los Angeles will be treated to a festival of world class sport, music, entertainment, culture and cuisine as the global celebration of rugby sevens continues in La La Land. With next level experiences and a music line-up headlined by Sophie Lloyd, tickets are available from $45 for both Saturday and Sunday at www.svns.com.
In keeping with rugby sevens tradition, fans are encouraged to come in their most creative costumes and enter into the festival atmosphere. – WORLD RUGBY
