It took China to finally break Australia’s defence on home soil, but the visitor’s solitary try was only a blip as the Olympic champions remained unbeaten on the opening day of the Sydney Sevens.
Australia won 24-7 on Friday afternoon against the tournament’s lowest-ranked side, in what was an improved showing from their 19-0 defeat of Spain earlier in the day at Spotless Stadium.
They will play the United States in their final pool game later on Friday night, with series leaders and long-time rivals New Zealand lurking in the opposite side of the draw ahead of a possible Sunday grand final rematch.
Last year the hosts outscored their opponents 213-0 on their way to a dominant series win in Sydney.
And they had kept that defensive record intact with a rusty defeat of Spain earlier in the day.
But their remarkable streak was ruined by a late try to China’s Gu Yaoyao after Emma Sykes had dragged down the pacey Yang Xu just metres from the line.
“We’re going out and we’re getting a little bit frazzled trying to score off every phase and we don’t need to be doing that so we just need to go back to basics,” captain Sharni Williams said post-game.
“USA are a tough fighter and a bogey team for us so we’ve got to come out prepared, they are going to come out firing against us.”
Earlier Ellia Green had powered to her second try of the day down the left wing, while Williams hit a gap off a short ball to put the hosts ahead 17-0 at half-time.
Evania Pelite and Alicia Quirk both showed great pace in first half tries as the hosts looked far sharper than their first-up effort against the hard-tackling Spanish.
Spain rebounded from that loss to beat the United States, who entered the Sydney tournament one spot ahead of Australia in third, 21-14 to consolidate second spot in the pool.
Providing they finish on top of their pool, Australia look destined to meet either England or France in a Saturday quarter-final.
Series leaders New Zealand have all but locked in top spot with a 31-7 defeat of the French and a 38-5 win over Papua New Guinea.
Australia’s men, who are sixth after three world series legs, play pool games against Argentina, Tonga and South Africa on Saturday.
