But on-field events, thoughts of legacy and the significance of sevens being played here in Rio may temporarily be parked as he casts his mind back to the influential role that his great friend Jonah Lomu – the All Blacks superstar who passed away in November 2015 – played in getting their bid to join the Games approved back in 2009.
Advertisement
The courageous new dawn of rugby sevens at the Olympic Games kicks off Saturday with women’s teams from trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand fancied to be battling it out with Canada and Britain for gold. “We’ve been waiting for it for a long time”.
“It (a possible medal) is what we’ve dreamed of during the past two years, and that is what we have come here to do”. The French fans booed and hissed the Americans so lustily – even during “The Star-Spangled Banner” – that they needed police protection upon leaving the field.
“It’s pretty insane”, said Kathryn Johnson, a forward for Team USA. Johnson said. “And you’re there with your buddies”.
In the second round of fixtures, things got no better for Japan or Brazil.
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.
Bianca Farella and Ghislaine Landry crossed for two tries apiece in Canada’s opening 45-0 win over Japan and the former was at the double again along with Karen Paquin as they made it two from two with a 38-0 defeat of Brazil.
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.
“A win’s a win, 5-0 or 2-0 it doesn’t matter, we’ll take it”. Though Tuisolo missed the conversion, the lead grew to 12-0.
That made Kelter the first American woman to score a try in the Olympic Games.
“That’s my favorite part”, she said, “coming on with fresh legs at half to cause a scene”.
Kelter, who played soccer and ice hockey at the University of Wisconsin, said the first time she saw rugby sevens, “I thought that it was a tough sport and it’s so fast-paced and it’s something that Americans can definitely get behind”. “We’ll just have to watch it on TV”, says Allan.
Kelly Griffin (left), Richelle Stephens and Jillion Potter stand together during practice.
“It was more emotional than technical, but we are here”, World Rugby vice chairman Agustin Pichot told Reuters after watching the first two games.
With numbers reportedly dwindling in Super Rugby this year in terms of television figures and stadium attendance, Sevens rugby is seen by many as a way of ensuring the growth of the sport in the future in much the same way that T20 cricket is viewed in relation to Test cricket. “You can be down with one minute to go and you need 14 points and you can turn around and win the game”.
At the end of previous year, Eliza McCartney made headlines for breaking the world junior pole vault record, clearing 4.64m.
“They’re pretty unbelievable”, Johnson said of the Fijians. The game is much more wide open. “Having a full-contact game in the Olympics is pretty wonderful”. However, she specifically loves rugby sevens as she competes in the debut of the event at the Olympics.
Advertisement
Paes delivered on his promise, and Beaumont said with a smile they will be keeping the mayor’s phone number to themselves: “It’s not available, by the way”.
