Jayden helps Steelers to silver medal
Drouin’s Jayden Warn was part of a gut-wrenching Australian loss in the gold medal match of the Wheelchair Rugby World Championships played in Sydney.
Japan won the epic gold medal match 62-61 at Sydney Olympic Park to become World Champions for the first time.
The Steelers, who had advanced to the final following semi final victory over Great Brittain, were aiming to become the first team to win the world championship on home soil.
The Australians had entered the gold medal match undefeated, having scored preliminary wins over New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland, with the result even more gut wrenching as the Steelers had earlier defeated Japan 65-52.
Turnovers killed the Australians’ hopes of victory.
They were down by five tries in the third quarter, but fought their way back to level the scores with less than five minutes left to play.
But Japan found a way to upset Australia’s offensive rhythm in the closing minutes and the decisive error came with 90 seconds remaining.
The Australian Steelers still maintain their world number one ranking, despite winning the silver medal.
The Steelers will look to exact revenge at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
The United States won the bronze medal with a 47-36 victory over Great Britain.