New Zealand coach Sean Horan said having rugby sevens on the Olympic program had a dramatic impact on the development of the global game, particularly for women.
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But the Australians must have done something to upset the code-hopping superstar, who refused to participate in an interview with Australian reporters in Rio on Wednesday afternoon.
But Tietjens, who has coached the New Zealand sevens since 1994, admitted that that was not going to be an easy feat.
The Australian team said she had passed an initial head-injury assessment, and would undergo another test but expected she’d be cleared for the quarterfinals.
Fiji has such a strong team that former San Francisco 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne failed to make the team. Maybe he didn’t want to be asked about why he decided against a return to the NRL?
Or maybe Williams is holding on to a gripe over the way he was treated when he walked out on Canterbury all those years ago?
Radio Sport’s Brenton Vannisselroy spoke to Sonny Bill Williams in Rio and proved even one of the most famous sportsmen in New Zealand can get a little bit star-struck.
This was all about Williams. “It will be unbelievable to get to be with everyone else”, said Joyce.
“I believe this team is on form and when we are we are next to impossible to beat”. “We’ll just have to watch it on TV”, says Allan. It’s fun, everybody touches the ball and the sky is the limit for what it’s going to mean to us. But it’s good ay. But he deserves the attention.
Although the first match will be contested by Europeans, it is the southern hemisphere nations who are expected to be vying for the medals come the end of both the women’s tournament and the August 9-11 men’s competition that follows. “That just shows the type of athlete he is”. Not only are they bent on Olympic glory but the players realise they are sitting on a gold mine in terms of exploding the game in their home country.
“I guess it’d have to surpass (everything else) because as an athlete there’s no higher level than the Olympics”, he told reporters in Rio ahead of the All Blacks Sevens’ campaign which starts on Tuesday.
They realised that they needed to get themselves to a better place but it had taken time. It gives me goosebumps.
“The key was putting myself in the sevens environment in the whole year and learning from these boys”. “It was just too much travelling, I just couldn’t do it”, she said.
The Fiji-born Green was a talented sprinter in track and field as a junior and only took to rugby sevens four years ago, nearly by mistake. “We want to be here in Brazil in 10 years’ time and say the 2016 Olympics was a catalyst to establishing the game in this country”.
The Fiji soccer team will play their first Olympics match against Korea Republic at 11am tomorrow.
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“We’ve played in big stadiums before, we’ve deal with the press”, she said.
