RUGBY SEVENS: Australian men’s rugby sevens team skipper Ed Jenkins admitted there was plenty for his side to work on following a disappointing defeat in their opening match of Rio 2016 at Deodoro Stadium.
French schemer Terry Bouhraoua was the hero for Les Bleus, scoring 26 of his sides points in the 31-14 triumph.
“It’s not an ideal start, that’s for sure,” Jenkins said. “We spoke about tightening things up at half-time and scored a couple of good tries, but when they got their try against the break of play.
“I wasn’t surprised how France played at all. Everyone is going to step it up at the Olympics and there are going to be no easy games so full credit to France.
Jenkins added: “However, we’re still in it, we have Spain next up and then South Africa so there’s still a lot of to play for.”
It was France that hit their straps early with two converted tries from Bouhraoua and a penalty from the same player. Australia hit back when Lewis Holland offloaded to Jesse Parahi to race clear and dot down under the posts.
The Aussies cut the deficit to just three points when Ed Jenkins was picked out by Cameron Clark, but a fortuitous ricochet in the green and gold’s own 22 fell kindly to Manoel Dalligna who had the easiest of tasks.
With the game in its dying embers, Bouhraoua capped a man of the match performance with a stunning run after full-time to hit the final nail in the Australian coffin.
Australia play Spain at 5am AEST (4pm local) in what is looking like a must-win game. In the other Pool B game at Deodoro Stadium in the first session, South Africa saw off Spain 24-0.
Final score: Australia 14 (T: Parahi, Jenkins; C: Stannard 2) France 31 (T: Bouhraoua 3, Dalligna; C: Bouhraoua 4; P: Bouhraoua)
Steve Stammer
olympics.com.au