Aussie 7s Men finish USA7s in sixth
The Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens team has fallen in the Fifth-Place Final against England 7-10, meaning the side finished the tournament in the sixth position.
With the wind blustering at around 55km/h, conditions for expansive Rugby were extremely difficult as both teams looked to crack the opposition defence.
A try on the cusp of half-time to Nick Malouf gave Australia the lead but the men in gold were unable to hold onto to victory with England scoring a match winner as the full-time siren rung around the Ben Boyd Stadium.
Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens Head Coach Andy Friend said: “I thought we had done everything we needed to (against England). Credit to England they had 20 seconds and 80 metres to go and they got there. We did that to Scotland the other day, that’s the game of Sevens.
“Overall, we’re disappointed to get the sixth position, however, I am really proud of the effort of the guys.
“We need to get better at finding that winning edge. We’re playing some good Rugby but we’re just not doing enough to get over the line of the top teams and we need to be better at that.”
Australia heads to Vancouver for the next round of the HSBC Sevens World Series with the tournament to kick off on Saturday 11 March.
Australia has been placed in Pool C alongside USA, France and Japan.
Australia 14 defeated Argentina 0
Australia dominated possession and territory in the opening five minutes but the defence of Los Pumas prevented the Aussie 7s from opening their account. Australia continued to hammer the Argentinian line and was eventually rewarded when Tom Lucas kicked behind the defence to regather and offload to Lachie Anderson who scored underneath the posts.
Alex Gibbon opened Australia’s account in the second half with a blistering run that opened up the defence to score and take the Aussie 7s lead to 14-0. The Aussie 7s continued to dominate the stats with Argentina struggling to gain any possession for the remainder of the half. A late surge by the South Americans was thwarted by James Stannard with Australia claiming the win to head to the Fifth Place Final.
Australia 7 were defeated by England 10
England shot of the blocks with a quick try in the first minute of the match as the Aussie 7s were caught off guard by the quick start by England. Australia struggled for possession and territory in the opening stanza but a quick break by Lachie Anderson allowed Nick Malouf to score underneath the posts and give Australia a 7-5 lead at the break.
The second half was a see-sawing battle as both teams failed to crack the opposition defence. Sadly, for the Aussie 7s, it was England who scored the late match winner and was able to take the match 7-10. Australia finished the tournament in the sixth position.
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