World Rugby Sevens: Jasmine Joyce scores hat-trick as GB win series opener

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Jasmine Joyce was part of Team GB squads who finished fourth at both the Rio and Tokyo Olympic games

Double Olympian Jasmine Joyce scored three tries as Great Britain won the Fast Four final at the World Rugby Sevens Series first round in Vancouver.

Great Britain also claimed bronze in the men's competition won by South Africa.

Wales wing Joyce scored in two of three pool matches and in the semi-final before her hat-trick in a 34-12 final win against USA.

"It was so fun to be out there," said Joyce.

"Coming back here and playing sevens was phenomenal. The crowd was absolutely fantastic."

The 2021 series includes just two events, both in Canada, with a number of core nations also not taking part because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The second round is in Edmonton on 25 and 26 September.

Great Britain's women defeated Mexico 39-0, Canada 19-5 and USA 41-12 in the pool stage, before beating Mexico 43-0 in the semi-final.

In the final, Joyce scored after just 30 seconds and again a minute later before completing a hat-trick which earned her the player of the match award. England's Emma Uren, Grace Compton and Amy Wilson-Hardy also scored.

Great Britain's men beat Jamaica 24-5 and Hong Kong 31-5 before drawing their final pool match 7-7 against Ireland.

After beating Canada 31-5 in the quarter-final, they were defeated 26-12 in the last four by eventual winners South Africa.

Ex-France sevens international Calum Randle scored twice in the third-place play-off as Great Britain beat Ireland 24-14, with the other tries from Frederick Roddick and Paddy Kelly.