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Gutsy Australians enter finals undefeated

 

Gutsy Australians enter finals undefeated

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AOC
Gutsy Australians enter finals undefeated
RUGBY SEVENS: Australia has set a date with America in the Youth Olympic Rugby Sevens semi-final this afternoon after triumphing over Canada 21-5.

RUGBY SEVENS: Australia has set a date with America in the Youth Olympic Rugby Sevens semi-final this afternoon after triumphing over Canada 21-5.

The Australians had all-but sealed a place atop the pool by virtue of their strong points differential and undefeated run, but this game certainly mattered to a determined Australian outfit.

“We were already qualified through to the semi but that doesn’t give us the easy option to think ‘oh we’ve made it through, we might as well slack off.’ We’ve got to pick it up every game,” 17-year-old Caitlin Moran said.

“We’ve got to get better, stronger and faster. We’ve got to be fitter than everybody else. If you want the gold medal you’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to dig deep.”

In a fiercely contested first half, the Canadians opened the scoring in the fourth minute when national senior team member Charity Williams beat Shenae Ciesiolka on the outside.

Ciesiolka fought back with some great lead up play, sending Tayla Stanford down the right wing to gain crucial territory for the Australians. The ball found its way back to Australian senior squad member Brooke Anderson who used her trademark step to find her way under the posts in the sixth minute.

Caitlin Moran converted to put the Aussies up 7-5 at the half.

“It was a gutsy effort. We knew it was going to be a hard game going into it,” Moran said.

“In warm-up there was a lot of talk- everyone was lifting each other up. We’re doing it for home so it means a lot to the girls.”

Two minutes in, Moran showed sensational flair. The Muswelbrook number 7 threw a dummy and goosestepped down the sideline, playing with the defence for some 50 metres before unselfishly dishing to Stanford who was guaranteed to score under the posts. Moran converted her own magic to put Australia up 14-5.

“That’s a shout out to my brother!” Moran said after the game.

“Thank you for all the backyard biffs that we had- when I hated you because you pushed me into the fence- it really got my footwork going.

“Going back to when we were kids he was always onto me about footwork. I’m not the biggest on the field- clearly, we’re not the biggest team, but you’ve got to be smarter, faster and spread it wide.

“Aussies have got some different sort of talent than everyone else has so it’s really good to analyse it and use it.”

With three minutes to go, Anderson went down in a heavy tackle and desperate defence from Australia stopped another senior player, Hannah Darling, from enterprising off the Australian’s misfortune.

Anderson came off for Raecene McGregor and with one-and-a-half minutes remaining, Dominique du Toit found space out wide and ran 80 metres to score beneath the posts. Moran slotted another conversion to keep her perfect kicking record for the match and the Aussies topped the Rugby Sevens pool winning all five matches.

China finished second and will face Canada in the semi-final, while USA recorded a 32-0 win over Tunisia earlier today to jump ahead of Spain on points difference and take the final place in the finals.

Australia played USA yesterday and won 38-0 but the Aussies expect a tough contest when they face off at 17:00 local time today.

“Everything from now is critical- food, water, rest,” Moran explained. A little help from the crowd also goes a long way.

“It’s hard when you’re out-numbered a bit… When you see some green and gold in the crowd it always lifts you up and you remember what you’re doing it for.”

The medal matches will be played tomorrow, with the bronze medal decided at 9:00 and the gold medal match at 10:00 local time.

Taya Conomos
olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam

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