“It’s unbelievable, you never see a minnow team come here and beat a team supposed to be a gold medal contender”, said Japan’s New Zealand-born playmaker Lomano Lemeki.
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The tournament marked the first time since 1924 that rugby has been played at the Olympics and the debut for sevens, the previous four incarnations featuring men’s 15-a-side tournaments.
Australia also did not manage to escape the injury noose as news emerged that star of this year’s Sydney7s tournament Lewis Holland, who fought back from injury to make this Olympic team, had suffered a minor hamstring tear early in the second half of the match against Spain and, like Williams, has been ruled out of the rest of the competition.
While New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens said Williams was understandably “shattered”, the king of the offload himself typically took to Twitter.
Rounding out the day were the World Series Champions from the Pacific looking to seal a second win and secure top spot in Pool A when they took on Argentina and, although getting the win, the Fijians were also pushed to the brink in a bruising encounter that nearly had the men in blue getting in for a final try.
Tietjens said Japan proved in the 14-12 win over his team and in the narrow 21-19 loss to Britain that the competition was intense for medals.
Teruya Goto and Kameli Soejima scored the tries for Japan and, crucially, Lemeki and Katsuyuki Sakai slotted the conversions.
“Sevens isn’t a big thing in Japan, its’ more 15s, so we want to lay a good platform”, Tuqiri said. “Charlotte is the flawless role model for the game and she’s shown that by how she goes about her sport”, he said.
Those that assumed a Kiwi victory would be a formality were very quickly reminded of the spirit of the “Blossoms” – not unlike last year’s historic Rugby XVs World Cup effort against the Springboks.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – First it was a World Cup upset for Japan. “Hopefully our win against New Zealand will boost it another level – in sevens it’s anybody’s game”.
New Zealand rebounded to beat Kenya 28-5 in their second pool match to set up a crunch game against unbeaten Britain on Wednesday.
Two Rugby World Cup winner’s medals with the All Blacks, a matching pair of titles in Australia’s National Rugby League, a Super Rugby title with the Waikato Chiefs and, of course, a WBA worldwide heavyweight belt.
“But, I mean mostly, after a sevens tournament – six games in three days – you’re kinda done”, Landry said a bit apologetically, a fresh-formed scab on a gouge across the bridge of her nose. “He’s got a great work ethic”, Tietjens said. But “there’s a lot of character in this team, I can assure you”.
Fiji kicked off its bid for a first Olympic medal with a 40-12 win over host Brazil, then needed two late tries for a comeback 21-14 win over Argentina – ensured by Jerry Tuwai’s desperate try-saving tackle on Axel Muller in the last seconds.
The top eight teams after three group games enter the quarterfinals.
It did mean though that the task of securing a top two spot in their group had now become a much bigger challenge for the men in green and gold.
The Brisbane State High School graduate was named Player of the Tournament for Australia after leading the Pearls to the sport’s inaugural Olympic gold medal early on Tuesday morning (AEST).
In Pool B, the battle for second is between France and Australia.
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The win over South Africa at the World Cup a year ago set TV ratings records, and caused a surge in interest in the game. Australia recovered from its opening loss to beat Spain 26-12, but faces South Africa next.
