Commonwealth Games 2022: Australia’s women’s sevens team wins gold, men miss out on medal
Australia is on top of the Rugby Sevens world again after blitzing Fiji to claim Commonwealth Games gold and exact revenge for the disappointment of the Tokyo Olympics.
The wait is over. Australia’s women’s rugby team is top of the world again.
After a rollercoaster ride in the wake of their 2016 Olympic gold medal triumph, the Pearls exacted revenge on Fiji in sensational fashion to seal Commonwealth Games gold for the first time.
After being wiped from the Tokyo Olympics in the quarter-finals by Fiji, and toppled by the tiny island nation in their final group game in Coventry on Saturday, Australia showed little mercy in a one-sided final that culminated in a historic gold medal.
“I expected them to win, but it was wonderful to see them win and a really good reward for the girls who worked really hard,” said men’s coach John Manenti, who coached the women’s group until late last year.
Revenge has been a dirty word in the Australian camp – one driven by process and results rather than narratives – but victory must’ve tasted extra sweet once the final whistle sounded on the 22-12 win.
“It’s freaking amazing. The girls are incredible – they’re the best team in the world, and keep turning up,” said men’s star Josh Turner.
“We basically see each other every day of the week, we train with and against them and we try to help each other out as much as possible.
“They’re freaking fantastic.”
All weekend Australia’s men and women have appeared enemy No.1 at Coventry Stadium, with rival teams winning support of the vocal – and boozed-up – punters.
And Fiji had made Australia do everything the hard way following a tense group win on Saturday – which sent Tim Walsh’s team into a nightmare semi-final clash against New Zealand.
Australia dug deep on that occasion, fighting back to produce a 17-12 win on the back of a Maddison Levi hat-trick.
And Sunday’s final, which immediately followed the men’s team’s tough defeat in the bronze-medal playoff against New Zealand, on paper looked just as tricky.
But it took little more than a minute for the pro-Fiji chants to be silenced on Sunday night, with Faith Nathan opened the scoring after the ball was flung to the left wing for an unconverted try.
The 22-year-old former touch football star danced through defenders minutes later to secure a first-half double as Australia looked to exhume the demons of their 2018 Gold Coast Games final nightmare.
When Madison Ashby walked through non-existent Fijian defence seconds before halftime to open up a 17-point lead, the memories of that late fade were long gone – and gold was within touching distance.
Madidison Levi was the find of the tournament, and the gold result would not have felt complete without a try to the multi-code superstar.
She scored her 10th try of the tournament early in the second-half to cap off a series which cemented her place as one of the hottest young prospects in Australian sport.
Fiji woke up the crowd with a brilliant solo try to Ana Maria Naimasi, who added a second consolidation try right on full time, but it was too little too late as the Australians cleared the bench to celebrate their golden moment.
HEARTBREAK FOR AUSSIES DESPITE STUNNING TRY
A crestfallen Australia has missed out on medalling in the men’s rugby at the Commonwealth Games after falling to arch rivals New Zealand in the bronze medal match.
Australia went down 26-12 to end a seesawing tournament in which they scrapped their way through the pool stages, drawing with Uganda, before reaching the semi-finals with a win over Samoa.
With star Wallaby Samu Kerevi again missing with a knee injury suffered during the final pool game win over Kenya, Australia got off to the worst possible start when New Zealand’s Leroy Carter burst onto a loose ball to score a sensational 60 metre try to open the scoring inside the first minute.
But Australia hit back almost immediately through a quick-stepping Josh Turner, who walked through the New Zealand defence to level the scores at 7-7 approaching halftime.
On the stroke of halftime, New Zealand made a telling blow with Moses Leo bursting through a Corey Toole tackle to give the six-time champions a seven-point lead at the break.
The backbreaking moment of the match came barely a minute into the second half, when Leo pounced on an Australian error to travel close to 75 metres to score.
When Carter added his second with two minutes remaining, it was all but confirmed that Australia was heading home empty-handed after a campaign that held such promise.
A spectacular late try – and remarkable finish to Henry Paterson, who acrobatically touched down near the sideline despite his entire body being out of touch – helped make the scoreline more respectable, but couldn’t change the result.
In news that is sure to please Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, Australia’s coaching staff were optimistic that Kerevi’s injury was minor and shouldn’t impact his long-term Rugby Championship prospects, although his absence from the final three matches will surely raise some eyebrows.
BRUTAL SELF-ASSESSMENT BEHIND STUNNING RESURGENCE
From failing to fire a shot, to coming out all guns blazing.
It’s the brutal self-assessment from Australia’s sevens stars which resuscitated their flagging hopes of claiming maiden Commonwealth Games gold.
An ugly pool game defeat to Fiji relegated Australia to the toughest of semi-final assignments: New Zealand.
But they responded by producing a heart-stopping 17-12 victory on the back of a monumental three-try performance to budding superstar Maddison Levi, to set up a revenge clash against Fiji in Sunday’s gold medal match.
In the eight hours which followed Australia’s early loss to Fiji, coach Tim Walsh sat his team down, reviewed the defeat and the team absorbed a forensic analysis which could yet be the key to delivering a historic gold.
“It wasn’t good enough, but it was not a lack of effort – it was nerves and fear,” Walsh said, moments after the New Zealand stunner. We were just gun shy, we didn’t fire any shots. You’re never going to win when you play like that.
“So we bring no fear, which is how I try and instil the players to play.” In a rematch of the 2018 Gold Coast Games final, Australia started promisingly, conceded a crucial try on the stroke on halftime before producing a perfect second-half.
Revenge? Not this time. It doesn’t register with this group.
“We’re defined by our result but we’re not an outcome-based team,” Walsh said.
“It is (a nice storyline) but it doesn’t cross our mind.”
Instead, Levi revealed it was the halftime chat which turned everything around and led to the come-from-behind win.
“We knew we were pretty well matched for skill, so our effort was what was going to get us across the line,” she added.
“At halftime we looked at each other and said ‘how bad do you really want this? Are you willing to put your body on the line and willing to chase everything?’ and obviously the results showed.”
Having scored the opening try of the match, Levi crossed again to start the second half and reduce the deficit to just two points. Then came the try of the match, with Levi combining with sister Teagan to seal her hat-trick – and ninth try of the tournament – and give Australia 60 seconds to defend.
But things nearly went awry when the three-try hero was sin-binned after the full-time siren, leaving her teammates one short as New Zealand peppered their tryline in search of a winner which never came.
“It was pretty emotional – it could’ve gone either way but we’ve been practising those scenarios,” Levi said.
“But I knew the girls would back me and they worked together and we got over the line in crucial moments.”
Levi, who along with sister is being courted by NRLW and AFLW clubs in a bid to prise the gun duo away from rugby, is enjoying an exceptional tournament and has cemented has status as the game’s hottest prospect. “She’s had a fantastic tournament,” said Walsh.
“She’s a tremendous athlete but there’s a lot of potential around and she (is different because she) has a mental application where she just wants to be better.
“She’s gluing herself to (co-captain) Charlotte (Caslick) to find out how she gets better all the time and she’s genetically gifted.”
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