“To get through that one, and to know tomorrow we’ll be playing for a medal regardless of the outcome of our first game is pretty unbelievable”, Caslick said. Woodman exploited the overlap for tries just before and after halftime, giving New Zealand a 20-7 advantage when 7-on-7 parity was restored.
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The reward for such a close call against the Australians is a daunting knockout match against New Zealand, the other main contender for the first ever Olympic gold medal in women’s rugby. They agreed that whichever home nation achieved the benchmark for qualification first, in the 2014-15 World Series, would take on the mantle of heading up Team GB – and they’d also have their pick of the players from across the British Isles.
World series victor Australia rebounded from a surprising 12-12 draw with the United States in the last game of the pool stage to trounce Spain 24-0 and set up a semifinal match against Canada, which rallied to beat France 15-5 in the quarterfinals.
In the other quarterfinals, Britain will play Fiji, which placed second in Pool A and closed with a 36-0 win over Colombia, and Canada will meet France, which lost 26-7 to New Zealand and placed second in Pool B.
Jevelet was again in the thick of it against New Zealand.
With three minutes to play, Kiwi playmaker Tyla Nathan-Wong was yellow carded for cynically taking out American winger Jessica Javelet with the line abegging.
“We are building nicely”, said try star Brown. “We made it hard for ourselves, not playing to our strengths, getting a bit too ahead of ourselves, and wanting to score on the first phase when we needed to play three or four”.
“Now, we’re playing for a medal”. They can finish anywhere from fifth to eighth. “But most of all, we want to walk off that field without any regret”.
“It’s a good moment and has set the base for future development of rugby in Brazil”, said Mufarej, adding that the Deodoro Stadium, which was just under half-full for the second day’s play, was “very well suited for rugby sevens”.
“We keep building each game, and I think that is all you can ask in sevens”.
Tonegato scored the first try against Spain, following up her double against the Americans, and Charlotte Caslick crossed twice, including a solo, long-range try.
The United States was seconds away from the biggest upset of the Olympic rugby sevens tournament before Emma Tonegato and Chloe Dalton combined to earn Australia a 12-12 draw Sunday in a dramatic end to the group stage.
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Australia’s Emilee Cherry, right, scores a try as Canada’s Karen Paquin, defends during the women’s rugby sevens semi final match at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016.
