Aussie Sevens set for American Samoa clash in Olympic Qualifier Quarter-Finals

Nov 14 • General News, International, Sevens Rugby, World Rugby • 1762 Views • Comments Off on Aussie Sevens set for American Samoa clash in Olympic Qualifier Quarter-Finals

The Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens side’s bid for a spot at the Rio 2016 Olympics continues tomorrow when they take on American Samoa in the Oceania Qualifying tournament at the Trusts Arena, Auckland.

Led by interim Head Coach Tim Walsh, the Aussies qualified as top seeds from Pool A after comfortable wins over Nauru (62-0), Cook Islands (48-7) and Tonga (49-0) to set up a Cup Quarter Final date with American Samoa.

Tim Walsh said: “Tonga was always going to be our toughest game of the day so it was a game we were keen to execute well in and I thought we played well.

“We only conceded seven points throughout the day which is good and I don’t think we missed too many tackles but there are still things to work on. We’re all looking forward to Day Two and picking up where we left off. Day Two is what this tournament is all about and it’s up to us to ensure we are peaking at the right time.”

On Samoa’s equally impressive showing in Auckland on the opening day of competition, Walsh added: “Samoa are a world-class and they are in-form, on-song and well drilled. I’ve no doubt they will reach the Cup Final and it’s up to us to make sure it is against us. It’s all shaping up to be a cracking afternoon tomorrow.”

Allan Fa’alava’au, Ed Jenkins and debutant Henry Hutchison all notched braces in the 10-try defeat of Nauru to kick off the Australian campaign in style.

A relatively sloppy first half gave way to an impressive second period as Australia accounted for the Cook Islands in game two, with Greg Jeloudev’s double the highlight.

Australia reserved its best display of the day for the final game of pool play as they totally dominated Tonga in all facets of the game – Ed Jenkins (2), Pama Fou and Allan Fa’alava’au got the first half scores before Greg Jeloudev (2) and Michael Wells crossed over after the break.

In the other Cup Quarter-Finals tomorrow morning, Samoa will play Nauru, Tonga take on the Soloman Islands and Papua New Guinea meet the Cook Islands.

Australian Men’s Sevens fixtures in Auckland, New Zealand, 15 November:
Australia v American Samoa, Cup Quarter-Final, 9.50am AEDT
Australia / American Samoa v Papua New Guinea / Cook Islands, Cup Semi-Final, 12.50pm AEDT
Cup Final, 4.00pm AEDT

Australian Men’s Sevens results in Auckland, New Zealand, 14 November:
Australia 62-0 Nauru, Pool A
Australia 48-7 Cook Islands, Pool A
Australia 49-0 Tonga, Pool A