'Poor decision making' costs Aussie men on the Gold Coast

RUGBY: Australian Men's Rugby Sevens Head Coach Geraint John was left to lament indifferent decision-making at crucial times as their Gold Coast Sevens campaign ended on a low note on Sunday.

RUGBY: Head Coach Geraint John was left to lament indifferent decision-making at crucial times as his Qantas Australian Men's Sevens side endured heartbreaking defeats to South Africa and Argentina as their Gold Coast Sevens campaign ended on a low note on Sunday.

John said: “I think we were ok on Day One but we were disappointing in that last match against Fiji. I think we had opportunities against South Africa and Argentina today but we weren’t clinical enough.

"We have to make sure that we make the right decisions and that it doesn’t affect the rest of our season. The players will now take some time off and review what they went in this tournament and we’ll move on from there."

Australia were edged out of the Cup competition at the Quarter-Final stage by Commonwealth Games Gold Medallists South Africa (12-10) before falling to Argentina in the Plate Semi-Final (21-17).

Against South Africa, James Stannard spotted the smallest of gaps in the Blitzboks defence to give his side an early advantage only for Kwagga Smith and Frankie Horne to score either side of the break to give the visitors the lead. Con Foley powered over on the siren but Cameron Clark missed the resulting conversion to hand South Africa a hard-earned win.

Argentina were the first to strike in the Plate Semi Final but Cameron Clark replied shortly after. Some quick-thinking from Lewis Holland saw Australia take the lead with Ed Jenkins extending their lead midway through the second period. However, two tries in the last minute of play from Axel Muller consigned the home side to defeat.

Elsewhere, Fiji continued to thrill their fans as they surged towards to a well-deserved Cup Final triumph to take an early lead in the 2014/15 HSBC Sevens World Series. Ben Ryan's side saw off Samoa (31-24) after earlier demolishing Wales (31-10) and then England (48-7). The English, meanwhile, took third place after beating South Africa (19-0).

The draw for the Dubai Sevens on the weekend of 5-6 December was also made, with the Aussies placed in Pool C alongside England, USA and Kenya.

Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens results in Gold Coast, Australia, 11-12 October: Australia 29-0 Portugal Pool C, Australia 24-14 Scotland Pool C, Australia 12-35 Fiji Pool C, Australia 10-12 South Africa Cup Quarter-Final, Australia 17-21 Argentina Plate Semi-Final

Final placing's for the Gold Coast Sevens (top 8): 1. Fiji (22 World Series points), 2. Samoa (19 points), 3. England (17 points), 4. South Africa (15 points), 5. New Zealand (13 points), 6. Argentina (12 points), 8. Australia (10 points), 8. Wales (10 points).

Aussie women overcome Canada in three match series

The Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens team has emerged victorious in the three match Sevens series against Canada at the Gold Coast Sevens.

Over the two days Australia lost the first match but rallied to win the final two in what is critical preparation for the IRB Women’s Sevens Series, due to commence on 4 December in Dubai.

Australia’s tireless Shannon Parry was happy her side was able to get the job done, winning 17-15 in the final game and taking out the series.

“Canada is a top three team in the IRB Series and we are very grateful that they came down under and they are definitely a top contender for the series.

“It’s great to play tough opposition before the series starts.

“We don’t get to play in front of our home crowd that often and it was something special.”

In the decider, solid defence from Australia’s Shannon Parry saved an almost certain Canadian try in the opening minute of the match. As the Canadians reeled, Alicia Quirk pounced to score a fantastic try in the corner to give Australia a 5-0 advantage.

Canada showed why they are one of the best teams on the international Sevens circuit with an immediate try reply through the flying Ghislaine Landry.

Australia’s second try came through an excellent set move that allowed Shannon Parry to break through the Canadian line after running a fantastic line, offloading to Charlotte Caslick to score right underneath the posts.

The start of the second half saw the women in red pounce on an Australian defensive lapse as Bianca Farella scored in the corner. Canada dotted down again with a fantastic try that went through multiple sets of hands to take the lead 15-12 with less than two minutes remaining.

With the clock counting down the Australian side needed to find a try to win the match in order to ensure victory in the series. A 75-metre run by Australia’s flying winger Ellia Green allowed Australia to take the lead 17-15 and bring the crowd to rapturous applause.

IRB Women’s Sevens World Series calendar:

Dubai, UAE - 4-5 December 2014
Sao Paulo, Brazil – 7-8 February 2015
Atlanta, USA – 14-15 March 2015
Langford, Canada – 18-19 April 2015
London, England – 15-16 May 2015
Amsterdam, Netherlands – 22-23 May 2015

Rio 2016 Qualification

Eleven teams plus host nation Brazil will qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The top four teams from the 2014/15 series will automatically qualify, and then the top team from each of the six regional tournaments will qualify and then a group of teams not lready qualified will get the chance to grab the final spot. Full qualification details here>>

Australian Rugby Union and AOC