It was fast, it was furious and the ultra-fit players were colliding at full pace.
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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. It virtually shut down an entire Pacific nation.
Rio has also embraced the fancy-dress, carnival atmosphere seen at many sevens tournaments, with broad-chested men in cropped dresses and fairy wings swilling beer while taking selfies with players a common sight around the venue.
How fitting was it then that upon last night’s final it was the Queen’s red of their former colonists in which they were to face, and eventually annihilate; a poetic justice of sorts.
Celebrations have hit the streets of Suva as locals erupt in to singing, clapping and dancing after Fiji claimed its first Olympic medal with a gold in the Olympics sevens tournament in Rio.
After ensuring the victory that had been in the making since the International Olympic Committee in 2009 added Fiji’s national sport to the program for Rio de Janeiro, Kolinisau and his teammates huddled solemnly in the middle of the field and sang a hymn.
Britain coach Simon Amor was grateful to reach the final, having held off South Africa 7-5 in the semifinals and had a close call with a golden-point extra-time win over Argentina in the quarterfinals.
The world series champion Australian women beat New Zealand for gold, but only after scraping to a 12-12 tie against an under-rated US team which eventually finished fifth.
“This is the nation’s team”.
“I was whispering a lot in their ears at the end of the game as they were giving me a hug that they were Olympic champions”. “No regrets, at all”.
“When these guys are on fire, it’s very hard to combat”, Great Britain captain Tom Mitchell said.
“It has been exciting to play”. “All the (IOC) people I’ve spoken to have been nothing but encouraging”. The Pats were watching, he said, and were “saying they’re proud. We don’t have the money and the bucks and support that England has – but we managed to beat them”.
Ebner said the Olympic sevens tournaments had potentially brought the game to a vast new audience in places like America. People in Japan took notice. “That’s really all I can ask”.
“7s in the Olympics and all the joy had today wouldn’t have been possible if not for the late Beth Coalter”, he said, with reference to the World Rugby Sevens Operations Manager who died suddenly in October, aged 59. “It’s a different look in the village”.
For the tiny nation where rugby is a religion, this was the fulfilment of a dream that had been building since the sport was accepted back in the Games in 2009.
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They were smiling by halftime, leading 29-0, and the dominance wasn’t just with ball in hand – they didn’t let the British players cross the halfway line while in possession.
