Japan’s Kameli Soejima, scores a try during the men’s rugby sevens match against New Zealand at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016.
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Australia coach Tim Walsh said he thought the inaugural women’s tournament had shown the sport deserved its place at the Games.
It is one of the great underdog stories of the Games so far and on Thursday the Japanese will take on tournament favourites Fiji in the semi-finals.
“The effort was definitely there”, Curry said after the game. We just need a few calls to come our way, maybe a few yellow cards and we could be in for a medal.
Referee Rasta Rasivhenge is a member of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) Elite Panel.
“They’re a good team”.
“They put in a gutsy performance against the number one seed”.
“We thought that if we kept running right to the end, we would win”, Goto said. “But we are not looking for an excuse”. The main characteristic of rugby is that players can only pass the ball backward with their hands, but they can also kick it forward.
And they then followed this up with a tight 21-19 win over Japan which saw James Rodwell cross twice in the first half. We got penalised off the park really.
He added: “I want to see the video before commenting on refereeing decisions that were made”.
It leaves the Fijians as favorites to win their country’s first Olympic medal.
Fiji defied the wet conditions by opening the match with a magnificent move that took them from under their own posts to the New Zealand line in series of charges and handoffs, captain Osea Kolinisau touching down.
New Zealand were in danger of going out but qualified after Fiji’s 24-19 win over the US, and the All Black Sevens will play Fiji in the last eight.
The New Zealanders were hoping to have Williams back around the team in some way during the Olympics.
Not long after Williams’ exit, his teammates left the Deodoro Stadium with their heads down, having lost to Japan for the first time in rugby sevens.
“This is our chance to prove to the world that Japan can beat any team”, said Lote Tuqiri, a Fiji-born flyer who proudly plays for Japan.
But it was Watson, who scored five tries for Falcons in Aviva Premiership Rugby last season, who was the match-winner as he wriggled free of three tackles to go over and ensure Great Britain finished the day top of Pool C and with one foot in the semi-finals.
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But Japan is growing in confidence after a stunning upset win over New Zealand and narrowly missing a draw against Britain on the opening day of the tournament and following it up on day two with a win over Kenya before a 12-7 quarterfinal win over France.
