Despite conditions that did not favour running rugby — the heavens opened shortly before kick-off — the 12 teams competing to qualify for the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series put on a stunning series of performances for hardy fans at Estadio Charrua.
In the men’s competition, Germany and USA both went unbeaten on day one in Montevideo to open up a tournament league lead over their rivals and put themselves in the box seat for a shot at qualifying for the end of season tournaments in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux. But Kenya, with two wins from their three matches, are chasing hard.
In the women’s competition, meanwhile, there was little to choose between the six sides, as three matches went into golden point extra time. Just three table points separated top from bottom at the end of the opening day, with Argentina, South Africa and Spain all picking up two wins from their three matches.
Perfect days for USA and Germany
In the men’s competition, Germany and USA both went unbeaten on day one in Montevideo to open up a tournament league lead over their rivals and put themselves in the box seat for a shot at the HSBC SVNS World Championship Series.
Nairobi winners Germany came back from 14-0 down against Canada to win 21-14, courtesy of Jakob Dipper’s second-half hat-trick.
Dipper’s fourth try of the day and a brace for Niklas Koch sent Germany on the way to their second win of the opening day. They ran in five of them in total en route to a 31-5 victory over Belgium.
They came from behind again in the final match of the day, an end-to-end thriller against Uruguay. The hosts raced into a 19-0 lead in the first four minutes before Germany — defending an unbeaten record — clicked. They roared back to lead 24-19 with two minutes remaining. Alfonso Vidal then sent the home crowd wild, before Cedric Eichholz settled matters 31-26
USA Eagles, second in the HSBC SVNS 2 table heading into Montevideo, opened their account with a potentially crucial 14-10 win over Kenya, third after the opening weekend in Nairobi last month.
David Still III bagged a double and there was a first international try for Aaron Faison as USA marched on in Montevideo with a 29-14 win over host nation Uruguay.
And tries for Jack Wendling, Still, Ben Broselle, and Lucas Lacamp helped USA complete a day one clean sweep, as they beat a game Canada 22-14.
Chrisant Ojwang’s raw pace set the scoreboard moving after just 14 seconds for Kenya as they raced out of the blocks in their second outing of the day against Canada. Floyd Wabwire and Kevin Wekesa Nyongesa also touched down in the first half, as the African side recovered from their opening match defeat against USA to win 19-5.
Kenya were just too good for a dogged Belgium, scoring four tries to win 20-0 and finish day one in Montevideo on two wins to maintain the pressure on USA.
Uruguay had put on a show in front of a dedicated and rain-soaked home crowd in Montevideo, running in four tries to one to beat Belgium 26-7.
Three points separates top from bottom
In the women’s competition, top-three sides Argentina, South Africa, and Spain appear well placed to pick up crucial league points in their quest to finish in the top four and qualify for the end-of-season three-tournament HSBC World Championship Series.
All three sides won twice in the difficult and changeable conditions in Montevideo on a day in which all sides proved fallible — and three matches went to golden point extra time.
Two of those three matches involved Argentina. Their opener, against neighbours Brazil — who will host next weekend’s final HSBC SVNS 2 tournament in Sao Paulo — was the first to go into overtime.
In the end, however, with the seconds ticking down at the end of the opening period of extra time, Argentina captain María Paula Pedrozo scored the crucial try to claim a 12-7 victory.
But they gave up a winning position against Kenya in their second match, as the earlier downpour temporarily eased. Argentina looked to have won it when Josefina Padellaro scored in the 13th minute — but Sinaida Nyachio raced clear with the clock in the red to level the scores, then converted her own score to win it.
In the last match of the day, Hua Beibei slotted a clock-in-the-red conversion from out wide to level the scores at 17-17 in China’s final match of day one against Argentina into golden point — the third match of the day to go the extra distance — after they had been 17-5 down in the 13th minute. But Maria Brigido Chamorro forced her way through two defenders to claim a 22-17 win for the South Americans.
Nairobi runners-up South Africa nilled two opponents on day one as they grew into the tournament. Ayanda Malinga scored a hat-trick as South Africa put their opening match defeat behind them with a comprehensive 38-0 over a youthful China.
Then two tries for Nadine Roos helped them to a 26-0 victory over next weekend’s host nation Brazil.
But they had earlier kicked off their tournament against the same side they faced in their opener in Kenya last month, Spain. The first meeting between the two sides ended in a two-point win for South Africa. This one ended in a one-point win for Spain — 15-14.
But the early optimism turned to mid-day despair, as Spain lost 10-15 to Brazil in the day’s third golden point game. Thalia Costa — who else? — scored the crucial touchdown.
Positivity returned later, when Juana Stella scored a two-minute double at the end of the second half to give Spain a second win in their three matches on day one in Montevideo — but Janet Okelo’s 60m dash for the line pulled the scores back to 19-14 and ensured Kenya picked up a losing bonus point that could prove vital in the final reckoning.
Kenya had earlier lost their opener against China 19-15. Second-half tries from Gao Xiaoyang, Le Zhang, and Chen Can shifted gears down the stretch to come back from a slow start.
At the end of the day, the top three were level on seven league points, while the bottom three were locked on four.