But as the women’s Olympic rugby sevens tournament drew to a close, the first time it has appeared at the Games, Scarratt insisted her efforts will not have gone to waste.
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Gold medal favourites Australia were too strong for New Zealand, winning 24-17 but they benefited from a controversial referee decision, that saw them awarded a questionable first half try.
“It was a typical trans-Tasman battle”, Australia co-captain Shannon Parry said, referring to the intense sporting rivalry between her country and neighboring New Zealand.
The exposure women’s rugby sevens has gained from being a part of the Olympic program in Rio is only expected to accelerate this popularity.
Hughes said the nature of the fast and furious sevens game ensured any team could win the gold medal.
When she was contracted to join the Australian Sevens unit part-time, she was juggling her love of rugby with her job driving trucks at the mines.
“We’ve only had about two hours sleep”, she said. “It was very much a minority sport”.
The real drama came minute before halftime, with Great Britain collecting two yellow cards in the space of 30 seconds, reducing the team to just five players.
‘Just between me and athletes who have tested positive I guess’.
Rugby is back in the Olympics for the first time since 1924, but in the condensed sevens format and with women competing for the first time.
It was only the second medal won by Canada in a team sport in the Summer Olympics since 1936 when Victoria players Doug Peden and Art and Chuck Chapman won silver in men’s basketball at Berlin in 1936.
The Americans lost 12-7 to Fiji in their opening game Saturday, adding to the pressure on them in the last Pool A match to beat Australia on Sunday.
Each tournament is played across three days and involves 12 teams.
From there, the top two finishers from each of the three pools will advance to the quarterfinals, as will the two best third-place squads.
The Aussies were quick to punish their rivals as they spun the ball sharply to the left, the quick-thinking Caslick making space for Evania Pelite to score and see Australia claim a 10-5 half-time lead.
The impressive McAlister and Woodman crossed for late New Zealand consolation scores, but it is Australia who take home the medals to match their golden shirts after a commanding display.
“It’s hard when you came for that gold, and it wasn’t the performance that we really wanted”, Woodman said.
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“We have such different talent on our team, and we have brought them together, and I think it’s about having those different balances of athletic background”, Hughes said.
