Fiji’s rugby team poses after winning their country’s first Olympic medal after taking gold by defeating Britain in mens rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016.
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Fiji put in a disciplined display to win 43-7 with a converted try by Dan Norton only proving a consolation.
“They played some high-risk rugby there and they were outstanding and, hopefully, we showcased Fijian rugby and everybody who was watching, maybe even the British supporters, can have a smile. They were just stratospheric and they saved the best until last”, Fiji’s English coach Ben Ryan said.
He later became Newbury’s director of rugby, leading them into the Championship in his first season, and went on to coach both the England Counties and England Sevens sides.
“They’re all celebrating, they’ve been celebrating for the last three days”, he said. Japan should be proud of its performance at this Olympics, though – its upset against New Zealand in group play was considered by many to be the match of the tournament.
South Africa took the bronze medal in an earlier match with a 54-14 victory against Japan.
World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said he was hopeful the International Olympic Committee would give his sport the green light after its strong showing in Rio.
Hundreds of thousands of people across the rugby-obsessed country were glued to their screens as the match unfurled.
“The boys are front page, back page, six o’clock news”.
It said “some of them (fans) could not hold back their emotions and shed tears of joy as Ryan and his team brought glory to the country”. I can’t imagine how the players must have felt. I can have an hour drive to work and see 50 villages all playing rugby, it’s the passion, and it’s the national sport.
Fiji coach Ben Ryan said sevens was ideal for a huge global TV audience – fast and furious with the ball nearly always moving.
Cheers echoed through the wards of the Suva’s Colonial War Memorial hospital, a receptionist told Reuters by phone. A spokesman said it was too soon to say what form those celebrations would take.
Hosted at the purpose-built Deodoro Stadium, rugby sevens has been a crowd-pleasing, standout success in the first week of the Rio Games, vying for attention with the traditional headline acts in the pool and gymnastics arena.
After the win, Suva’s streets swelled with revellers honking horns and singing the national anthem, said Lorraine Seeto, a chief manager at Fiji’s central bank who was looking on from the rooftop of Fiji’s tallest building.
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It includes American gymnast Simone Biles, who has been hailed as the greatest ever female gymnast after winning the individual all-round Olympic title to go with her World Championship medal.
