New Zealand, Australia and France went unbeaten on day one of the SãoPaulo Sevens on Saturday to set up some mouth-watering Cup quarter-finals.

With a samba party atmosphere in Arena Barueri, defending champions New Zealand returned to form in the sunshine, easily beating USA, Spain and Russia. Australia overcame some tough challenges from rivals Canada, Fiji and Ireland to top Pool A, while Pool C was topped by France, who beat England, Japan and hosts Brazil. 

THRILLING ACTION

The second round of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series kicked off in São Paulo with a bang.

In Pool A, Australia continued where they left off in Dubai with three impressive victories. Once again Ellia Green and captain Shannon Parry led the way for the Australia who showed good confidence heading into day two.

Canada also advanced from Pool A and, as always, their performances were based around the experience and power of Jen Kish and Kelly Russell. Fiji’s final victory over Ireland meant that they pushed themselves into third, but know that they will need to improve dramatically on day two when they will again face Australia.

Despite finishing fifth at the last round in Dubai, New Zealand were totally dominant and blew away their competition in Pool B on Saturday. Kayla McAlister was sensational and the form showed by Sarah Goss and her team will have other contenders sitting up to take notice.

Behind New Zealand, the USA bounced back from a tough time in Dubai to secure second place with good wins over Russia and Spain. Dubai runners-up Russia had a difficult day without many of their key experienced players, and will look to bounce back on day two, refreshed and rejuvenated.

Highlights: Sao Paulo Day One
All the action from the first day of the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series in Sao Paulo.

Finally in Pool C, France started strongly with comprehensive victories over Brazil and Japan before winning a close match against England in the decider. England’s victories over Brazil and Japan were enough to book their place in the Cup quarter-finals, while the hosts’ emphatic final win against Japan gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about.

The opening day’s results mean that Australia will face Fiji in the first Cup quarter-final before New Zealand take on Brazil. France and Canada will go head to head in the third quarter-final, after which the USA will face England for the last place in the semi-finals. The Bowl semi-finals will see Spain play Japan and Ireland face Russia.

DAY ONE RESULTS AND DAY TWO FIXTURES >>

With the road to Rio getting even shorter, the Olympic torch made an appearance at the Sao Paulo Sevens, as many of the qualified teams for Rio used the competition to hone their skills and patterns ahead of the biggest stage of them all in August. 

As the clocks go back an hour in Brazil on Saturday night, the action resumes on Sunday morning at 11:00 (GMT -3) when Australia take on Fiji at Arena Barueri. Find out here where you can watch all the action from the second round of the HSBC World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.