Australia comfortably saw out the final moments of the game to claim the gold medal in the maiden women’s rugby sevens event at the Olympic Games.
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“The world knows now that women’s rugby is the real deal”.
“We’re pretty disappointed with that, but [the bronze game was] a performance that we can be proud of and it’s good rugby”.
The U.S. and New Zealand squads played practice matches against each other in Florida leading up to the Olympics, and the Americans obviously picked up some intel.
It wasn’t to be, with the Fijian women losing to Britain on Sunday night and leaving it to coach Ryan and his sevens world series champions to make history in Rio de Janeiro.
Reflecting on the Olympics experience, she added: “It’s disappointment at the moment, but this has been a phenomenal experience, bringing rugby to the world stage”.
In fact, Cherry is one of five national touch football representatives who made up the 12-member roster that featured in Australia’s Olympic success.
“It’s incredible, to be honest”. “This tournament shows the growth of women’s rugby”.
“A lot of the girls behind me had never played rugby, never tackled before (when we started)”, she said. “It was very much a minority sport”. I play rugby full time, as a full-time job and a full-time profession.
New Zealand scored twice in the final few minutes but it was too late for gold.
“It feels unbelievable representing my country”, the 30-year-old said after Monday’s semifinal win over England. Our mission for our team is to inspire the world with the black jersey, and we’ve done that. “But obviously the Olympics is the pinnacle of all sports, so it’s a huge honor”.
“They didn’t play us this hard in Florida”. A single mistake can change everything and the Canadians had more than one.
They’re now the toast of the nation, but the Australian women’s rugby sevens team has caught the ire of one former Aussie Olympian.
“I think, to be honest, we’re trailblazers”, she said. “We’re hoping to move that up this afternoon to 75% with the final and the final games, then the men’s start tomorrow”.
The Deodoro Stadium was not near capacity for the medal matches, and the vocal crowds made for great atmosphere. Tylia Nathan-Wong was yellow carded and sent from the field, but the New Zealanders survived unscathed.
Victoria’s Lindsay Jennerich and Patricia Obee – Canada’s best hope for a rowing medal – won their heat in the women’s lightweight double sculls to advance to the semifinal round Wednesday.
SUPER MUM: Nicole Beck, the only mum in the Australian team, runs with the ball during a Women’s Pool A rugby match between Australia and Colombia on Saturday. “I just felt so proud and blessed to be from such an fantastic country”.
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Australia’s International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates had the great pleasure of hanging the gold medals around his victorious compatriots’ necks on this historic occasion.
