London Women’s Sevens: Day two

USA'squarter withSpainlooked hard to call on paper and so it proved - probably the best game of the round. Victoria Folayan opened the scoring after two minutes getting first to a well timed kick through, but Spain were ahead at half time thanks to a conversion of Casado's try of 5 minutes, after a great break starting from their own try line.

The second half belonged to the USA, however who had the Spanish pinned in their half until near the end of the game. Two tries from Vanesha McGhee - the second after a defensive mistake by the Spanish - gave  USA the game 15-7.

Australiathen breezed byRussia33-7, Russian heads dropping after a series of decisions that seemed to go against them. There was brief hope for the Russians when a Baizat Khamidova try pulled them back to 19-7, but two more Australian scores resulted in a clear 33-7 win. They will play USA in the first semi final.

Englandthen followed with a thoroughly efficient performance againstIreland, who only really got into their stride and looked threatening in the second half - by which time they were 12-0 down. Even so England always seemed to have another gear, and eased to a win without adding to their score.

FinallyFrancetook onCanada,and looked a far better team - though lacking confidence and not going forward well. Several times Caroline Ladagnous had a potential break, but no support. Tries either side of the break were good enough for Canada, whose handling was on another level (Mandy Marchak having glue on hers, by the look of it!). Right at the end France finally scored their first points, young Lina Guerin - a third division player, but quite a find - setting up Ladagnous.But too little, too late

So its Spain v Russia and Ireland v France in the Plate, and USA v Australia and England v Canada in the Cup.

Semi-finals

Plate

We opened the semis withSpainagainstRussia -two teams that know each other well after Russia's training camp in Spain a month or so ago. The Russians won in Spain, and took an early lead from the inevitable Baizat Khamidova. Spain dominated the final five minutes of the half, but with only a try from Casado to show for it, and tie the game at 7-7. Khamidova again scored in the second half, but crucially out wide. The conversion was missed, and when Spain scored under the posts.they were able to steal the game 14-12.

FranceandIrelandwas a titanic battle - the Irish attack unable to get through the French defence until right on the break. Niamh Kavanagh's try a minute from the end confirmed this, but France ended their weekend with young third division find Lina Guerin scoring her first international try on the hooter. Ireland 12, France 7.

Cup

Once very clear effect of playing in the big stadium was a significant improvement in kicking from all teams. Katrina Barker forAustraliawas faultless, converting all four Australian scores against theUSA.The Americans had gone ahead near the end of the first half (good try byFolayanwell converted by Rossier) , but Australia dominated both possession and territory, and were comfortable 28-7 winners.

And so to the game between the best two teams in the tournament so far, and it was a game as good as expected. England were ahead 12-0 at the break with tries from Scarratt and Staniford, but Canada fought back to level the game with two minutes to go when Moleschi's score was doubled by Dubissette-Borrice. However, England raised their game a gear and Jo Watmore burst down the outside of the Canadian defence, outpacing everyone to get England's winning try. 17-12.

Finals

Plate final

After all the had gone before, this was surprisingly one sided. AdmittedlySpain(with several more tournaments to warm up in before Moscow) started with a couple of key players on the bench, while Ireland (whose only other tournaments will be the Euros) had a full strength team. Even so, Ireland scored four unanswered tries either side of the break, with Niamh Briggs (in her first international sevens tournament) converting three of them. Spain's few attacks, on the other hand, tended to break up due to nervy handling errors. Even calling on the likes of Patricia Garcia and Angela Del Pan did nothing to stem the flow, giving Ireland a 26-0 Plate win... and their third piece of silverware in three tournaments this year.

Final

A game as one-sided as the Plate Final, and even more so than last year's final. Apart from a hestitant start, the home side barely put a foot wrong. Wihin the first minute Watmore and Packer played kick and chase down the field, outpacing all the Australians. Watmore attempted a pick-up inches too soon, but Packer was there to support and touch down.

Within a minute Watmore had broken the line again for 14-0. Australia were then thrown back onto their line and defended like tigers, but a third score was inevitable and came from a McLean dummy. 21-0, and halftime.

For the first four minutes of the second half Australia barely touched the ball as England played champagne rugby. Staniford scored in the corner, soon followed by Merchant, and it was 31-0.

A raft of substitutions followed, giving Australia a chink of light - and with it their first real attacking opportunity. Suddenly 17 year-old Tiana Penitani was through, running 60m to score.

But, within seconds, and as if to show that anything Australia could do England could better, Merchant now sprinting 80m for another England score - and 36-7, which is how the game ended.

Round-up

Although aninvitational event, and used by all teams as a building exercise for greater things, this was a well organised and often memorable event. There were no easy games to be had, no small teams. As the third round of pool games showed, the difference between the sides was slight and games could turn dramatically on a yellow card or contentious refereeing decision.

There are some unfamiliar namers faces on display who we may be hearing more of in the future - Casado for Spain, Guerin for France, Penitiani for Australia to name but three (and it almost seems unfair to name but three).

Aside from the odd semi-final draw, the tournament was well managed and run - not to mention paid for - by the RFU, and shows how much women's event can benefit from the double-header model.

Even though most games were not in the main stadium, spectators came round to Cardinal Vaughan to watch their teams when they were playing, giving us greater crowds and a better atmosphere than a purely women's tournament would probably have had. And the prize of getting to play in the main stadium was worth fighting for.

It was also interesting to see how teams raised their game when they played England. The best games were all England matches - against Spain, the pool game with Australia, the semi against Canada (though the opening match between Australia and Spain was a nail-biter too).

Most of these teams now go onto Amsterdam next week, or the Euros (or both) before the World Cup in Moscow at the end of June. Based on this weekend all of these tournaments will be well worth watching.