Australia (M) and France (W) grab Gold at 7th FISU WUC Rugby Sevens
From 7 to 9 July, Swansea, United Kingdom hosted the 7th FISU World University Rugby Sevens Championships. Nine men’s teams and ten women’s teams participated in the event. It was a thrilling three days of rugby in Swansea with full coverage across the championship via the live stream and this week, Eurosport will be showing coverage of Saturday’s play.
In the women’s final, this year’s dominant force France took the crown from the reigning champions Canada, with a resounding victory after their initial breakaway try by Joanna Sainho was cancelled out by Erika Scott’s pacey score. Lenaig Corson stretched the lead for the French, before Sainho got her second in the corner putting France almost out of sight, leading 19-5 at half-time. In the second half, Canada defended valiantly, but the waves of ‘Les Bleus’ kept coming and tries from Bilon and a second from Corson saw them take the title in style, 31-5.
The men’s final saw a rematch of the tight game earlier in the men’s tournament, as host nation and two-time defending champions Great Britain took on newcomers Australia. Great Britain stunned the boys in gold early, as Patrick Jenkinson finished off five phases of play to go over in the corner. Two minutes later, Christopher Levesely danced his way through the Australian defence to put them 10-0 ahead, but Australia showed their class by bouncing straight back with three scores of their own through Lachian Anderson, Fred Dorrough and Thomas Merrit to lead 19-10 at half time. The second half saw some big hits and strong, physical play at the breakdown, until Pointon went over for the hosts. Great Britain continued to surge forward and the pressure told as Adams was sin binned for Australia and James Beale bundled over to take Great Britain into a one point lead. It was a frantic finish and a penalty in the last second saw Australia push right, with Conor Mitchell going over in the corner for a dramatic winner right at the death, meaning they win the championship (24-20) at their first attempt. It was a fitting end to a brilliant tournament.
A complete overview of all matches can be found at .
The 8th edition will take place in Swakopmund, Namibia in 2018.