In echoes of the victory of their 15-man team over South Africa at the Rugby World Cup a year ago, the Japanese showed no deference to the acknowledged superpower of the worldwide game.
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They tell themselves in team meetings that they have no excuses not to perform at the highest level in their quest for Fiji’s first-ever Olympic gold medal, and they know their villages are waiting up in the early hours to watch them on TV.
South Africa booked their place in the semi-finals after defeating Australia 22-5. Joe Weber was also ruled out with a shoulder injury.
“For that to happen in the first game of the tournament is devastating”.
“Sonny Bill’s a great professional, he’s very infectious, he certainly helps the younger players and has a great work ethic”. In sevens, its anybodys game.. “People see it as the All Blacks Sevens, I don’t have a problem with it”.
Tietjens was magnanimous in defeat, showering the Japanese with praise.
“He’s obviously shattered and disappointed”, Tietjens said.
In normal time, the score finished 0-0, an incredibly rare score in any form of rugby, with both sides getting within five metres of a match-winning try. But “there’s a lot of character in this team, I can assure you”.
Caslick, who featured strongly in the four-tries-to-three final victory, scoring one try and having a hand in Ellia Green’s second-half score, said Charlesworth’s comments reflected the fact that “I guess he’s never played sevens”. Sione Molia was called in to replace Williams.
A thrilling opening round of fixtures also saw a highly-fancied United States team lose 17-14 to Argentina, while Australia came unstuck 31-14 against France.
Its no secret that results in sevens tend to be more erratic as compared to 15s, however this scoreline will echo across the world, bringing reviving memories of the Brave Blossoms’ victory over South Africa last September.
Their lead was short-lived, however, as Gillies Kaka exchanged passes with Akira Ioane before putting in skipper Scott Curry.
Auckland-born Lemeki bounced over to reporters with a huge grin on his face after the 12-7 quarter-final win but was at a loss to explain what was going on.
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“I could talk to him about why we had a two-man lineout in defence and he’ll give me some rugby knowledge”. But, after monumental triumphs over Kenya, New Zealand and, last night, France, their price has collapsed to 18/1 and the firm are reporting major pay-outs if they go all the way. It shows how ruthless sevens is.
