Dubai: Ladies Dubai Rugby Sevens defending champions Australia are dedicating this weekend’s performance to Australian cricket player Phillip Hughes, who died last week after being struck on the head by a ball.

The women’s Wallabies wore black armbands in their opening group matches on Thursday and had the number 408 emblazoned on their knee straps in reference to Hughes being the 408th player to have donned the baggy green.

Australia won their opening three group games against South Africa 36-0, France 24-10 and Spain 39-0, before coach Tim Walsh announced the squad’s intention to reclaim the women’s title and dedicate it to the batsman, who was buried in his hometown of Macksville, New South Wales, on Wednesday.

“The whole of Australia has been affected, particularly the athletes,” said Walsh. “We read some pretty emotional stuff before our training sessions and we are bringing our cricket bats with us everywhere,” he added in reference to the trend of ‘bringing your bat out’ in memory of Hughes.

“This has provided inspiration to the girls and they’ve dedicated their weekend’s performance to Phillip. It means a lot to Australia.”

Australia’s opening wins take them to the top of Pool B and sets them up well for Friday’s knockout stages.

“We are very happy with the way we played the majority of today [Thursday],” he added. “In that second game against the French they really gave it to us, which was good. Winning three out of three sets us up in a not too bad position for tomorrow [Friday], so we are happy with day one.

“We are confident for tomorrow [Friday], nothing has really changed, our preparation has gone really well. The most important game of the tournament is the quarter-final on the second day, so we’ve got to make sure we go home, prepare, tie up any lose ends and make sure we are ready.”

Elsewhere, double Women’s World Series winners and 2012 Dubai champions New Zealand, who are looking for a hat-trick of series wins since the format began two years ago, also started round one of the five-stage series in Dubai confidently on Thursday.

The Kiwis beat China 43-0, USA 24-19 and Russia 29-12, to top Pool A and kick-off their season with confidence ahead of Friday’s knock-out stages.