Aussie Sevens coach John Manenti hailed Charlotte Caslick as the "best player in the world" after her scintillating return to form on day one in Sydney.
Australia's women finished the day undefeated and without conceding a point, beating Spain 33-0 and Ireland 34-0 in their first two pool matches.
Caslick has missed the past three World Series legs with a hamstring injury but made an emphatic return to the international stage
Of the 11 tries Australia scored on Saturday, Caslick either scored or had a hand in eight of them in an incredibly influential day at the office.
Manenti didn't hold back her praise when asked about Caslick's importance to the Australian outfit.
"Well, it's pretty evident she's one of the best players in the world, right?," he said.
"You take the best player in the world out of any team and it's going to hurt.
"We've obviously got a great team and it's a collective but she adds a real point of difference.
"Her ability one-on-one to beat a defender's pretty good, she can pass, she can see things that other people don't, that's what separates the great players.
How good is Charlotte Caslick! This try was the first of a hat-trick for the @Aussie7s against @IrishRugby. #Sydney7s
— RUGBYcomau (@rugbycomau) February 1, 2020
READ: https://t.co/zdJlHZEUEi pic.twitter.com/WZtze2VfXA
"So, hopefully she stays fit and well and keeps finding her form throughout the weekend."
Though Caslick's quality was never doubted, Manenti admitted he had almost underestimated exactly how influential Caslick could be after her absence in recent tournaments.
" I haven't had her for the last couple of tournaments, I almost forgot how good she was but she reminded me pretty quick with her first touch this morning," he said.
"She's played really well throughout the day and obviously gives us something different.
"I think also, Quirky and Emilee Cherry, playing around there just have composure, we can feed the speed thing and feeling pleased with the effort.
"We know it's only day one but it's certainly I thought we played well."
As for the heat that teams and fans sweated through on day one? Manenti said he hoped things would heat up even further on day two.
"They know that we've been training through the Australian summer and we've been working hard so if anyone can handle it better than anyone else it's us, so it's almost our mentality, the hotter the better," he said.
"If we can turn it up a bit tomorrow, that'd be great."
The Aussies take on France in their pool-deciding clash on Sunday at 10:35am AEDT, with the winner to progress through to the semi-finals.
For detailed scorers, results and fixtures, click here.
Everything you need to know about the tournament is here.
5:31pm - Round two wrap
The women's competition is all wrapped up for day one and the second round results are in.
This time around there were no upsets, making for an enthralling final round of pool matches to be played on Sunday
USA 34 - Brazil 19
Canada 20 - Fiji 14
England 24 - Japan 5
New Zealand 22 - Russia 12
Australia 34 - Ireland 0
France 42 - Spain 7
STANDINGS
POOL A
England - 6pts +54
New Zealand - 6pts +38
Russia - 2pts -43
Japan - 2pts -49
POOL B
Canada - 6pts +29
Fiji - 4pts -1
USA - 4pts +10
Brazil - 2pts -38
POOL C
Australia - 6pts +67
France - 6pts +61
Ireland - 2pts -60
Spain - 2pts -68
4:57pm - AUSTRALIA vs IRELAND
Australia's women are on track to progress to the Cup semi-finals after a 34-0 win over Ireland in their second pool clash on Saturday.
With no quarter-finals, the women need to top their poo or be the best runne-rup to make the final four and they did their chances no harm after another dominant showing.
Superstar Charlotte Caslick had a hat-trick, taking her day one tally to five tries, in a showing that underlined exactly how important the 24-year-old is to the Australian outfit.
The Aussies threatened in the opening stages but some gritty Irish defence stopped them from scoring.
Eventually, some slick passing saw Sharni Williams cross the line in the third minute from a Caslick pass.
Caslick went the whole way herself two minutes later, dodging the Ireland defence and running 70 metres to score.
Dom du Toit added to the scoreboard two minutes later to stretch Australia's lead to 17 points.
Caslick, who has underlined her value to the Aussie side today, scored from the next kick-off to give Australia a commanding 24-0 lead at the break.
The halfback made it a hat-trick after half-time, creating an opportunity to attack after minutes of having to defend.
Returning forward Shannon Parry iced the game with a minute to go, collecting an Ellia Green offload and streaking into space to score.
RESULT
Australia 34
Tries: Caslick 3, Williams, Du Toit, Parry
Cons: Williams 2
Ireland 0
12:03pm - ROUND ONE WRAP
The first round of women's fixtures is done and dusted here at Bankwest Stadium and after a surprising start, the favourites have overwhelmingly dominated proceedings.
Fiji upset USA in the first match of the day but the rest of the competition's heavy hitters took wins in their clashes.
RESULTS
USA 14 - Fiji 19
Canada 33 - Brazil 10
England 33 - Russia 0
New Zealand 28 - Japan 0
Australia 33 - Spain 0
France 38 - Ireland 14
STANDINGS
Pool A
England - 3 pts +33
New Zealand - 3pts + 28
Japan - 1pts -28
Russia - 1pt -33
POOL B
Canada - 3pts +23
Fiji - 3pts +5
USA - 1pt -5
Brazil - 1pt -5
POOL C
Australia - 3pts +33
France - 3pts + 26
Ireland - 1pt -26
Spain - 1pt -33
11:42am - Caslick right at home in Sydney
Returning star Charlotte Caslick didn't miss a beat in her World Series comeback in Sydney.
Caslick, who missed the past three World Series with a hamstring injury, was sensational in her tournament return at Parramatta, scoring two first-half tries and setting up another.
The 24-year-old said she was confident she'd be able to have an impact in her first outing after the injury, having taken a careful approach with her recovery.
"I think after missing Sydney last year, I was really excited for this weekend and the girls defended for a long time at the start for me so I got the ball fresh which was great," she said.
"I've been doing a lot of training back home and they've been really conservative with my recovery so we definitely knew I was ready to go this weekend."
The women's side is one of the most experienced lineups in recent times and Caslick said it certainly felt natural to be reuniting with players like Emilee Cherry in Sydney.
"We didn't actually get that much of a chance to play with ball in hand for multiple phases but it's just nice looking over and seeing Emilee back out there with me, she's got such a great calming presence for all the girls so I definitely felt that immediately as soon as I ran out with her," she said.
Australia battled it out in 40-degree heat, well before midday, but Caslick said the gruelling conditions were the perfect trial run for the Tokyo Olympics, which is expected to be particularly humid.
"It's hot but we love it. It's great for us and it's great practise for Tokyo," she said.
"We're using this one as a real trial for Tokyo so it's great to slowly be getting all the troops back and in saying that we've still got a lot of injured girls at home that are training their butts off to get back so I think it's just great to see how strong our squad is and the depth that we've got coming through."
The Aussie women play their second match at 4:36pm AEDT against Ireland.
11:15am - AUSTRALIA vs SPAIN
An impressive turn from returning star Charlotte Caslick has helped the Australian women open their Sydney campaign with a 33-0 win over Spain.
Caslick had a double and had set up another by the half-time break in a dominant performance while Ellia Green also nabbed herself a hat-trick.
Spain were the first to build attacking pressure but Australia's defence held strong early.
A downfield kick gave Spain a half-chance but Caslick scooped up the ball and turned it into the opening try at the other end.
It was a smart Caslick wrap that opened up the opportunity for speedster Ellia Green to power over in the fifth minute.
The halfback made it a double just before half-time as the Aussies stretched their lead to 17 points.
There was just enough time for a final play in that half and it was Green who finished it off to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
A quick passing chain opened up the space for Green to score her third of the game, just after half-time as Australia's dominance continued.
Two yellow cards for Spain didn't help their cause but even at their full complement they found the Australians hard to stop.
Caslick combined with Emilee Cherry to try and put Sariah Paki over but the Spanish defence scrambled well.
As the minutes ticked down, the game descended into somewhat of a grind as Spain tried to break their duck but the clock eventually beat them.
RESULT
Australia 33
Tries: Green 3, Caslick 2
Cons: Green 3, Williams
9:51am - Fiji spring upset
Tokasa Seniyasi speaks after @fijirugby's big upset win over @USARugby in the first match on day one at the #Sydney7s.
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) January 31, 2020
Final score FIJ 19 USA 14 pic.twitter.com/ef6osmZmBM
One game down and we already have a surprise result here at Bankwest with Fijiana beating the USA 19-14.
The sides went tit-for-tat with their scoring for almost the entire match but a last-gasp score to Mereseini Leivere won the Fijians an opening win.
In this weekend's format where there are no quarter-finals, every loss is hugely costly and that one could put the USA at risk of missing a top four spot.
9:03am - Aussies name strong squad
The Aussie women aren't in action until 10:58am but there'll be plenty of eyes on them when they get their Sydney campaign underway.
This team is one of the strongest the Australians have fielded in recent tournaments with seven Rio gold medallists in the 12-player group.
Charlotte Caslick and Shannon Parry return to the lineup in a big boost for the side, reuniting with Alicia Lucas, Sharni Williams, Emma Tonegato, Emilee Cherry and Ellia Green for the Sydney competitoin.
Australian Women's Sevens squad for Sydney 7s
IN: Charlotte Caslick, Shannon Parry, Faith Nathan
OUT: Emma Sykes, Rhiannon Byers, Sariah Paki (13th)
1. Shannon Parry, University of Sydney, QLD, 28 caps
2. Sharni Williams (c), University of Canberra, ACT, 33 caps
3. Faith Nathan, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, 3 caps
4. Cassandra Staples, University of Queensland, NSW, 11 caps
5. Emma Tonegato, University of Western Australia, NSW, 29 caps
6. Demi Hayes, Griffith University, QLD, 11 caps
7. Charlotte Caslick, Bond University, QLD, 32 caps
8. Madison Ashby, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, 4 caps
9. Dominique du Toit, University of Western Australia, QLD 14 caps
10. Alicia Lucas, University of New England, NSW, 33 caps
11. Emilee Cherry, University of Queensland, QLD, 30 caps
12. Ellia Green, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 29 caps
13th Sariah Paki, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, 10 caps
FIXTURES
WOMEN
ROUND ONE
9:30am - USA vs Fiji
9:52am - Canada vs Brazil
10:14am - England vs Russia
10:36am - New Zealand vs japan
10:58am - Australia vs Spain
11:20am - France vs Ireland
ROUND TWO
3:08pm - USA vs Brazil
3:30pm - Canada vs Fiji
3:52pm - England vs Japan
4;14pm - New Zealand vs Russia
4:36pm - Australia vs Ireland
4:58pm - France vs Spain
