World reacts to Australia’s cruel rugby sevens Olympic heartbreak
Tears flowed freely as Australia suffered one of the most agonising gut punches in our Olympic history in scenes that were hard to watch.
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Heartbreaking scenes have unfolded for Australia’s women’s rugby sevens team after the Olympic campaign fell apart on Wednesday (AEST).
The 2016 Rio Olympic champs looked well on track to securing another medal for the cabinet, but it wasn’t to be.
A spot in the gold medal match looked all but sewn up after the Aussies raced away to a 12-0 lead in the semi-final contest against Canada before things inexplicably fell apart.
Canada came storming back into the contest as they dominated possession and caused a huge upset by scoring 21 unanswered points.
As the seconds ticked away a commentator on the global TV broadcast said: “They look shell-shocked here, the Australians. They can’t believe it’s going wrong from the scripts they had written”.
Aussie players on the bench were spotted in tears after the game.
Things then went from bad to worse in the bronze medal match as the Aussies were once again overrun as the USA claimed their first ever rugby sevens medal.
After leading 12-7, things once again fell apart for the Aussies as American Alex Sedrick skipped through the defensive line after brushing off three soft tackle attempts before running 95m to score under the posts shortly after the full time siren.
The result was sealed with a successful try conversion from directly in front as Australian players collapsed to the floor and sobbed openly as the American team started their wild celebrations on the field.
“They’re devastated. they’ve put a lot into it, everyone has. We came into this tournament to walk away without regret and every single one has done that,” Australia Women’s coach Tim Walsh said.
“They’re going to be disappointed, but I’m proud of them.”
Australian captain Charlotte Caslick, like her the rest of the team, cut a broken figure after the loss.
“It sucks but we gave it everything. We played our hearts out and I think that’s the beauty of Sevens and sport, that’s why we play it,” Caslick said.
“It’s a game of moments and there’s a couple of things we’d like to take back but we can’t.
“The first game we played Canada back into the game. To their credit they fought to the end and the USA did the same.
“We more than anyone wanted to come home with a medal. To have this feeling we’re disappointed.”
Caslick took to social media shortly after the loss as she resposted a message from the team where she wrote alongside it: “We’re sorry” with a teary eyed emoji.
While the tears flowed on the field for the Aussies, praise came flooding in for the team while others couldn’t help but point out the brutal choke from the team.
The Roar’s Christy Doran wrote on X: “A horror afternoon in Paris for Australia’s women’s sevens team. A 21-12 loss to Canada in the SF has been followed by another massive upset in the bronze medal match, going down to the USA 14-12 with the last play of the game.”
Jordan Kounelis wrote: “Hate to use the word but Australia’s women’s Rugby Sevens team choked. Sliced the competition up on the first two days and crumpled today. Shattering.”
Ben Quagliata added: “Holy choke job in the sevens.”
New Zealand secured the gold medal after taking care of Canada 19-12 in the final.
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Originally published as World reacts to Australia’s cruel rugby sevens Olympic heartbreak
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