GB’s men lose out to the Kiwis in Olympic Rugby Sevens semi

Team GB’s golden hopes were dashed by a strong and efficient New Zealand team, running out 29-7 winners.

The first session on the final day saw the culmination of the 9th-12th place Repechage, along with the 5th-8th place semi-finals, and most importantly the gold medal semi-finals.

11th place Play-Off: Japan v South Korea 

Rugby Union has undoubtedly gone from strength to strength in the land of the rising sun, and that is in no small part due to the success of the 2019 World Cup, as well as their historic victory over the Springboks. 

Whilst this success may not have entirely translated to Sevens, the Olympics will have certainly brought this format to the forefront for Japanese fans, empty stadium and all. 

Playing in the 11th place Play-Off may not have been exactly what the Japanese will have had in mind, but it was an opportunity to finally get a win on the board against a South Korea outfit who have been outclassed in this competition. 

However, the South Koreans weren’t there to just roll over for the hosts, with Coquillard sprinting directly through the Japanese line to score early on. Lote Tuqiri fended off his tackler to level the scores for Japan, Jeonming Jang regained the lead for Korea.

South Korea smelt an upset, but tired at the end of the first half and were punished by two quickfire Japanese tries. 

Chihito Matsui has led by example for Japan and continued to do so, capitalising on a Korean spillage to run through for Japan’s fourth. Korea responded courtesy of Yeon Sik Jeong but a late Kazushi Hano try sealed the deal and sealed 11th place for the hosts. 

Final Score: Japan 31-19 South Korea 

9th place Play-Off: Ireland v Kenya 

These two sides met in the final round of pool matches yesterday, and Ireland were looking to replicate the result from that game to finish 9th in their first-ever Olympic appearance. 

However, the Kenyans had revenge on their mind, as well as maintaining respectability for an Olympic outing in a sport they are touted as specialists in. 

It was a tight first half, with both sides defending well. 21-year-old Johnstone Olindi broke the deadlock with blistering pace that was too hot for Ireland to handle. A try that was well worked by Kenya in the build-up too. 

It was a game with few scoring opportunities, and scrappy at times but Kenya managed to pull clear late on with tries from Jacob Ojee, Willy Ambaka and Daniel Taabu.

A much better performance from Kenya and much more like what we expect to see from them, and good enough to earn them 9th place.

As for Ireland, they’ll be disappointed with this last outing but overall earning a victory over Kenya in the pool and giving South Africa and the USA good games too will certainly please them. 

Final Score: Ireland 0-22 Kenya 

5th-8th Place Repechage Semi-Final: Canada v United States of America 

Canada have, overall, had an impressive tournament, giving the Fijians some issues before comfortably beating the hosts. The USA are starting to thrive in both XV’s and Sevens, and are already considered a big-time player in the shorter format.

The Americans very nearly pulled off a big win against Team GB in the Quarter-Finals, were it not for a valiant second-half comeback. 

The USA started on top, with some excellent handling allowing highly rated Carlin Isles to go over. The Canadians dominated possession but seemingly couldn’t get over the line until Harry Jones scored to level up proceedings going into the second half. 

Neither side could get a firm grip on the game, and despite only being a Repechage Semi-Final, there seemed to be some nerves within both ranks, perhaps due to the nature of the opposition. With just a couple of minutes to go, Martin Iosefo was able to break the Canadian line and score to give the US a distinct advantage. 

The drama didn’t stop there though with Canada claiming the kickoff and persevering with the ball in hand, before finally getting their break courtesy of Justin Douglas.

With the scores locked at 14-14 with the buzzer just seconds away, this one looked doomed for extra time unless either side could score after the buzzer but before the ball goes dead.

That is exactly what happened, as the USA capitalised on a late Canadian mistake and no one was catching former sprinter Carlin Isles as he went over to send his team to the 5th place play-off. A highly entertaining encounter despite the circumstances. 

Final Score: Canada 14-21 United States of America 

5th-8th place Repechage Semi-Final: Australia v South Africa 

For these two Rugby powerhouses, this is a disappointing scenario to have to face up to, even if it is in the Sevens format. Australia’s tournament was doomed from the offset after they were torn apart by an impressive Argentina side.

Whilst they improved greatly in running old rivals New Zealand close in their final pool matchup, they were unable to make the improvements necessary to overcome the might of the Fijians. 

South Africa will be even more disappointed to be in this matchup, dubbed as one of the favourites for Gold pre-tournament, only to go on to be on the wrong end of an upset against the impressive Argentine’s. 

The Springboks took this frustration out on Australia, dismantling them comprehensively in the first half. A brace from Ronald Brown as well as a Soyizwapi score saw the South Africans well on their way to victory. 

Australia though had nothing to lose and quickly got themselves back into the game at the top of the second half. A fumble from the kick-off was poorly dealt with and Lachie Miller was on hand to capitalise on his own kick and get his side on the scoreboard. 

The Springboks will have been starting to get a little disconcerted when Australia worked the ball brilliantly to allow Josh Turner to go over in the corner.

A JC Pretorious score quickly set the records straight before Maurice Longbottom gave his side a glimmer of hope. The South Africans held on to a narrow win and progressed to the 5th place play-off to face the USA once again. 

Final Score: Australia 19-22 South Africa 

Semi-Final: Great Britain v New Zealand 

For Great Britain, this didn’t seem like it could be a possibility when they went 21-0 down to the USA, but having shown tremendous character to come back and win, they knew they were still right in the medal hunt. If it were to be gold they were playing for, they had to get past a Kiwi side who were given a slight scare by Canada. 

New Zealand protected possession very well early on and worked their way upfield from deep. Regan Weir’s powerful carry drew in British defenders, allowing Scott Curry to make the simple pick up and score to give his side a deserved lead. 

Britain responded in the perfect manner though, with Dan Norton exploding through the Kiwi game line to outrun everyone and score the equalising try under the sticks. 

Team GB were taking a risk by letting New Zealand have the ball and not competing at the breakdown, but this tactic seemed to be working as Britain had enough defenders to cover each New Zealand carry.

However, this stout defence was finally broken again on the buzzer as some excellent work from Scott Curry allowed Regan Ware to go over.

Ware did, however, give his teammates and all of the on-looking Kiwis at home a scare by grounding the ball with his feet just inches from the touchline. Thankfully for Ware, the TMO checked the grounding and was happy that he was in play. 

In the second half, we really saw what All-Blacks Rugby is all about, with strong carries and accurate passing all-round. Eventually, they were able to stretch GB and distribute the ball out wide thanks to a tremendous offload from Tim Mikkleson, and Regan Ware went over for his brace. 

GB knew they needed to respond, and respond fast. In reality, what actually happened was a piece of absolute excellence from Andrew Knewstubb from the kickoff. The kick picked out Dylan Collier and completely wrong-footed McFarland allowing Collier an easy score. 

At this point, New Zealand’s place in the final was all but secure, but GB put the final nail in their own coffin by giving away a silly penalty.

The Kiwis capitalised with some patient play and captain Scott Curry bundled through Bibby and Norton to put the finishing touches on an excellent performance, and ultimately end GB’s gold medal hopes. 

Final Score: Great Britain 7-29 New Zealand

Semi-Final: Argentina v Fiji 

Argentina have undoubtedly been the story of the Men’s Olympic Sevens competition. Whilst not exactly a small Rugby nation, and also Rio quarter-finalists in the Sevens, they have beaten two well-fancied teams in Australia and South Africa on their way to getting this opportunity at the gold-medalists. 

Argentina had a good spell of possession to begin the match, but as so often with Fiji, they can hurt you in an instant. Upon winning the ball back, Fiji were able to quickly go through the phases and work the ball to Sireli Maqala for the opening try. 

The underdogs would have feared the worst when Derenalagi scored a subsequent second try for Fiji but were able to get themselves back into the match thanks to the pace and footwork of wonderkid Marcos Moneta. The 21-year-old has been a standout at this Olympic Games, terrifying sides with his raw pace and skill with ball in hand. 

All of a sudden, the tides had really turned with Fiji on the back foot and Argentina pressurising their game line. The Fijian defensive line eventually succumbed to Ignacio Mendy, who had the wherewithal to sprint in the in-goal area to score underneath the posts and make the kick easier. In doing this, Mare converted and Argentina had a previous halftime lead. 

Sadly, this lead lasted less than two minutes into the second half, with Jiuta Wainiqolo proving near impossible to tackle with his brutal fends. Argentina were organised and worked incredibly hard but were caught napping by Semi Radradra who broke the game line and scored the try that would surely send the Fijians into the final. 

Argentina fought valiantly but did eventually come up short in this one, with Fiji proving just why they are the number one Rugby Sevens nation in the world. 

Final Score: Argentina 14-26 Fiji  

With Team GB missing out on the chance to get revenge on the Fijians for the 2016 final, they turned their attention to the exciting young Argentina side in their quest to leave Tokyo with a medal. Meanwhile, Fiji and New Zealand were set for an almighty pacific gold medal clash in what was sure to be a rip-roaring game of Rugby Sevens.

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