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Some teams were in action in invitational events in Las Vegas and Vancouver, while world champions New Zealand and series leaders Australia had their own mini-series in Sydney.

The idea between this mini-series was to play six games over three days to mimic the schedule they will face at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on 6-8 August.

New Zealand ran out 4-2 winners across the games, but with the exception of the ‘quarter-final’ in game four when both fielded full-strength sides, largely development sides were fielded by Australia coach Tim Walsh and his counterpart Sean Horan.

The players also used the time between matches to simulate the schedule for Rio 2016.

“We wanted to prepare ourselves for the Olympics, with the women’s series going from six to five (rounds) this year, even six isn’t a whole lot,” Walsh said.

“With a professional programme getting better, where do you get that level of competition?

“We put a strategy in place to fill that hole and get us prepared over three days. With New Zealand being across the ditch and having the same thought patterns it worked out really well.

“They played in really good spirit and it was a benefit to both Australia and New Zealand.”

NORTH AMERICAN FOCUS

Meanwhile, the Maple Leaf Reds – featuring Canadian stars like Jen Kish and Ghislaine Landry – won the inaugural Vancouver Rugby Festival Elite Women’s Division title on Sunday, beating France Selects 17-5 in the final at BC Place before the biggest ever rugby crowd in Canada.

Landry gave the home side the perfect start by scoring after just 30 seconds and further tries by Kish and Bianca Farella (main picture) delighted the crowd during the inaugural Canadian round on the men’s world series.

“It was a great opportunity to be in front of all of these fans,” Maple Leaf Reds coach Sandro Fiorino said. “Obviously, we played right after the men had beaten Australia and you could feel the electricity in the air and any time you can play on Canadian soil it’s a pleasure in front of your home fans and family and friends.

“It’s an exciting time for our team.”

Canada fielded two teams brimming with series regulars in the tournament, the Maple Leaf Reds and the Maple Leaf Whites. The latter finished fourth after losing the third place play-off 24-5 to a GB Select team led by Rachael Burford and including the Scottish and Welsh players who train with England.

The Vancouver event, which was played across three days at Brockton Oval, also featured USA Falcons, Apotella Angels and a Stars Sevens.

A week earlier, France Select had emerged victorious in the Las Vegas Elite International event that ran alongside the men’s series round, scoring a try just after the final hooter to beat the GB Select team.

The invitational event featured 16 teams, including seven national selections from Brazil, France, USA, Japan, Canada, Mexico and South Africa as well as the GB side.

Many of these were largely experimental sides with coaches taking the opportunity to give players a run-out as they build towards the next rounds of the series or involvement in June’s repechage event to determine the final qualifier for Rio 2016.

Photo: Derek Stevens