Australia’s men’s wheelchair rugby campaign cops a first hit but captain confident of a bounce back

Australia’s wheelchair rugby medal campaign took a hit after the Steelers’ opening match loss but captain Chris Bond is confident the champion team can bounce back, like they’ve done before.

Australia’s bid for a wheelchair rugby gold medal is off to a rocky start after going down to reigning champions Great Britain.

Trailing at every break, the world champions were beaten 58-55 at Arena Champ de Mars.

“Not ideal to lose game one, it’s the one we had envisioned to set ourselves up for later in the competition,” Australian captain Chris Bond said.

“It’s not the end, we’ve done this before, lost the first game before and gone onto win (a tournament).

Chris Bond says the team can bounce back to win gold. Picture: David Ramos/Getty Images

THE CRITICAL MOMENT

The game’s most pivotal moment came with just under two minutes remaining. After some desperate try line defending with the two countries separated by two, Australia won the ball back but the resulting inbound pass was turned over as captain Chris Bond tried to find Ryley Batt. Great Britain eventually went on to score a try and when the Aussies won possession back another turnover ensued.

“It was pretty even most of the game, a couple of turnovers got us down but we kept fighting,” Bond said.

“That’s what us Australians do, we stick it right to the end fighting and we almost turned it over and then just made some errors at the wrong time, that’s sport sometimes.”

Batt Ryley is one of the world’s best. Picture: David Ramos/Getty Images

BATT’S BRILLIANCE

Regarded as the world’s best player, Batt proved why he is going to be so critical for the Aussies’ chances going forward. He finished with a game-high 36 tries and was his country’s biggest offensive weapon. When he was able to power through the middle of the court, Australia looked likely to score every time.

Bond’s last quarter was outstanding as he made several impressive plays to give his side a sniff.

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MOMENTS TO REMEMBER FOR STEELERS DEBUTANTS

Making their Paralympic Games debuts, James McQuillan and Beau Vernon were thrust into the starting four and played key roles which allowed Batt and Bond to shine. Vernon had a moment he’ll never forget after scoring two quick tries to open his personal account. Ella Sabljak, who transferred from wheelchair basketball, gave some positive minutes to start the second half.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Aussies will now turn their attention to a clash with hosts France on Friday night AEST at 7.30pm. “Really energised now because we have to win. The nerves are gone, we have to go flat out,” Bond said.