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Fiji, France, China and South Africa will play at every event on the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series 2014/15 after reaching the Cup semi-finals of the qualifier at Shek Kip Mei Sports Ground in Hong Kong on Saturday.
The Fijians had entered day two as the top seeds after three victories on day one and proved too strong for Portugal, scoring four tries to win the opening quarter-final 28-7.
Asia’s leading women’s Sevens side China had wrapped up their place as a core team by half-time with some powerful running and impressive passing resulting in five tries against Brazil. The Rio 2016 hosts had no answer and could only manage a consolation try just before the final whistle.
France scored early but then spent long periods on defence as Japan kept possession in the third quarter-final. Two tries from Caroline Ladagnous, though, helped France lead 21-0 at half-time. Japan fought back bravely in the second half but slipped to a 21-12 defeat.
It was left to South Africa, therefore, to cause the one upset in the Cup quarter-finals by beating the Netherlands 22-7. The Dutch had, like Fiji, won all three games on day one, but three first-half tries gave South Africa a 15-0 lead and some strong defence ensured they won 22-7.
The four nations – three of whom faced each other in Pool A on day one in Hong Kong – will join defending champions New Zealand, Australia, Canada, England, Russia, Spain and USA as core teams on the 2014/15 Series, which starts in Dubai in December and features six rounds.
Fiji and France went on to reach the Cup final and treated the crowd to an exciting affair with only two points separating the teams at the break. France, though, looked on course for victory after two tries took them out to a 19-5 advantage.
The Fijians took time to regroup and battled back to tie the scores with just seconds on the clock. France fumbled the restart and Fijiana capitalised to grab the winning try and the silverware in Hong Kong.