Kenya became the third men’s side to qualify for the season-ending HSBC SVNS World Championship Series with two wins from three on the opening day of the final HSBC SVNS 2 Series tournament in Sao Paulo.
But the fourth and final spot in the men’s competition remains wide open, after Belgium closed the gap on fourth-placed Uruguay with a perfect three from three on the opening day.
The South Americans hold the advantage in the provisional overall standings, but the two sides are scheduled to meet in the opening match of day two.
In the women’s competition, hosts Brazil could still spring a surprise in front of their home fans by overhauling China and Brazil.
Kenya make sure of World Championships berth
Third in the standings heading into the last of the three HSBC SVNS 2 tournaments, Kenya opened their Sao Paulo account with a thoroughly impressive 38-7 win over already-qualified Germany to boost their chances of booking their place in the World Championships.
A surprise 14-12 defeat to Belgium, who had failed to manage a single point against them in Nairobi and Montevideo delayed celebrations, for a few hours.
But they gave their faithful, ever-singing fans even more to cheer about as they confirmed World Championship qualification with a 40-0 win over Canada. Vincent Onyala Owino scored two of their six tries — and could have had another, but passed to Denis Abukuse for the honour.
Belgium had given World Championship-bound USA a real scare in Montevideo last weekend — but couldn’t quite finish the job. But before they beat Kenya in Sao Paulo, they did the job they couldn’t complete over USA with a brilliant 24-15 win, which owed much to Martin Marenne’s hat-trick.
Marenne bagged two more tries as Belgium rounded out day one with their third win of the day — this one a 28-17 victory over Germany.
Ben Broselle scored twice as USA recovered from their shock opening match defeat against a Canada side who have struggled all through the HSBC SVNS 2 Series. It ended 26-12.
And two tries for Steve Tomasin proved decisive as USA beat Uruguay 19-14 – loosening the South Americans’ grip on the fourth and final ticket to the World Championships.
Uruguay managed two wins from their three day one outings to hang on to the fourth and final pass to the three-tournament HSBC SVNS World Championships — with Belgium closing in hard.
Canada’s Lachlan Kratz missed a difficult conversion that would have taken the opening game between Uruguay and Canada to golden point extra time — meaning that Pedro Hoblog’s second — a 90m footrace — settled an end-to-end seesaw of an opener 24-22.
Uruguay went two from two with a remarkable 26-19 win over Germany, Joaquin Fresnedo scoring two of their four tries to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Hosts Brazil fight hard but Kenya hold crucial advantage
Brazil’s women staged a party as international sevens rugby returned to the country for the first time since the Rio Olympics in 2016, picking up two wins from their first day’s three matches to keep alive their faint hopes of qualifying for the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series.
But it’s Kenya who hold the upper hand, in the quest for the sole remaining open slot in the women’s competition, with three wins on the opening day to sit top of the table, level on points with Spain and one point clear of the South Americans.
Brazil, currently third, need to finish above Kenya — and three places higher than China, who are currently sixth, to grab the last vacant slot. They will face Kenya in the closing match of the tournament.
Thalia Costa scored twice and Yasmim Soares once as Brazil, fifth on the log heading into the final tournament on the HSBC SVNS 2 Series, beat fourth-placed China 19-17 to send the Sao Paulo crowd into raptures.
They then blew the competition in Sao Paulo wide open with a stunning 17-0 victory over Argentina. Camilla Carvalho opened the scoring at the end of a suffocating first-half, with the ever-impressive Soares and Costa sealing the deal in the second.
Argentina later did their South American neighbours a huge favour, coming from behind to beat China 19-12, Maria Taladrid scoring the crucial try in the closing seconds.
But — without Nadine Roos, rested after picking up an injury earlier in the day — South Africa were able to rain on Brazil’s parade late in the day. Ayanda Malinga scored twice as Cecil Afrika’s side picked up their first Sao Paulo win, 26-12.
That win marked a positive end to what had been a disappointing day. Maria Calvo, Maria Garcia, and Abril Camacho Ruiz all scored as Spain laid down a day one marker with a 19-5 victory over the HSBC SVNS 3 champions.
‘Kenya Corner’ then went wild in the stands as their heroines held on to condemn South Africa to a 14-5 defeat — their second of day one at Sao Paulo. Janet Okelo and Freshia Oduor scored the crucial tries.
Fully-firing Spain went two for two with a 26-7 win over China, Denisse Gortazar weighing in with two of their four tries.
Tries at the end of each half for Janet Okelo helped Kenya to an important 24-17 win over Spain, after champions in Nairobi and Montevideo, Argentina had opened their account a hard-fought 19-12 win over the African side.
