Hong Kong Sevens: Great Britain women beat Brazil to widen gap to world SVNS series relegation zone by another point
- Going into Hong Kong, Great Britain were eighth of 12 teams, on 29 points, with Brazil one point behind in the relegation zone
- But a 14-5 win over their rivals in the ninth-place playoff gave the British some breathing space before the deciding Singapore leg
The grey cloud that shrouded the Great Britain women’s team earlier at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens developed a silver lining on Sunday, as they pulled further away from relegation with a 14-5 victory over Brazil in the ninth-placed playoff.
Going into the weekend, Great Britain were ranked eighth in the HSBC SVNS standings with 29 points, and Brazil were just one point behind in the first relegation spot.
Great Britain’s win in the playoff game boosted their overall series standings by four points, extending the gap between them and the Brazilians by two points.
“We came here to increase that gap, which we’re happy with,” Great Britain’s Jade Shekells said.
The playoff decided who finished ninth in the Hong Kong event, not the series overall, which tours eight countries.
Those placed in the bottom four of the 12-team league table at the end of next month’s Sevens in Singapore will fight it out in a relegation promotion play-off in Madrid with the top four teams from the Challenger Series.
“We don’t want to be sitting in the relegation zone going into Madrid,” said Great Britain’s top scorer for the weekend, Ellie Boatman.
“Staying clear of Brazil in Singapore is the aim now and hopefully we can reach the quarter-final or beyond.”
On the pitch on Sunday, Great Britain’s women went through Brazil’s defence like a hot knife through butter early on, carving a gaping hole in their defence on two occasions to lead the tie 14-0 at halftime.
“We just wanted to go out there and impose our game, and defence was one of those points, just making sure that we can take possession away from them,” Shekells added.
Great Britain were certainly made to look better by Brazil though, who mishandled the ball and showcased some pretty poor passing throughout the first seven minutes.
However, they tightened it up in the second half, and the on-field action was limited, the only thing of note being a try from Brazil’s Thalia Costa one minute from time.
