Japan's hopes of winning a medal in the first Olympic women's rugby sevens tournament all but vanished Saturday as the Sakura Sevens finished the opening day of competition at Deodoro Stadium with two big defeats to their name.
On the day France's Camille Grassineau became the first woman to score a try at the Olympics — the sport's four previous appearances in the Games between 1900 and 1924 featured only men's 15-a-side play — Japan was outpaced and outmuscled by Canada and Britain going down 45-0 and 40-0, respectively, in Pool C.
The Japan Rugby Football Union had said as late as Thursday that it thought the women's team had an outside chance of finishing in the top three. But the way Keiko Asami's team was brushed aside suggests even a ninth-place finish — which would earn it a spot as a core team on the 2016-17 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series — could be beyond it.