The Australian Men’s Sevens team had a win and a loss on their opening day of competition in Tokyo and will now face the undefeated New Zealand in a crucial match on Tuesday. The result will be key to Australia’s placing in Pool A and the make-up of the quarter-finals.
Australian Men’ Sevens Head Coach, Tim Walsh said: “It was far from a podium finishing performance to open our campaign.
“The nature of 7s tournaments places emphasis on the quarter finals and we are tracking toward an Olympic showdown against New Zealand in our final pool game.
“We are fortunate not to have any injuries, confidence is growing and we are quietly progressing and ready to attack day two and the finals.
“On a special note, I’d also like to congratulate Samu Kerevi on his Australian Sevens debut, while also congratulating Nathan Lawson and Dietrich Roache on making their international debuts for Australia.”
Australia 19 defeated by Argentina 29
In their first match of the tournament, Australia got off to a troubled start as they struggled to control the restarts with their opposition denying them valuable position in the first half.
Argentina would score first through Lucio Cinti as they continued to attack the Australian line before Matias Osadczu crossed next. They continued to pepper the Australia defence with another two tries to Santiago Mare and Ignacio Mendy leaving the Australian’s scoreless and behind by 24 points at half-time.
Australia applied the pressure in the second half, with Olympic debutant Josh Turner crossing for their opening try before swiftly making it a double. A substitution saw Samu Kerevi take to the field and be an immediate impact player, crossing within minutes and seeing Australia push for the win.
However, a late try to Lautaro Bazan Velez saw Argentina seal the result 29-19 and cause an upset. Later in the day, Argentina gave New Zealand a scare before going down 14-3.
Australia 42 defeated Korea 5
Australia was quick to redeem themselves in their second match of the day, securing crucial match points.
Australia struck early in the match, with Maurice Longbottom crossing under the posts, opening up the Korean defence for a golden onslaught. On debut for Australia, Dietrich Roache was next to cross for the Australians before Lachie Miller secured a double on the stroke of halftime to lead 21-0.
Korea crossed first in the second stanza with Andre Jin Coquillard finding a gap in the Australian defence. However, the men in gold were quick to respond with captain Nick Malouf going over. Dylan Pietsch was the last to cross for Australia after coming off the bench, securing their first win of the Olympic competition.
The men’s medals and final placings will be decided on Wednesday and the Australian women commence the defence of their Olympic title on Thursday.
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Harrison Wakeling
