Australians crushed as Kiwis claim sevens gold
AUSTRALIA’S women’s sevens players were left with broken hearts and shattered bodies after New Zealand scored a golden-point try deep in extra-time to deny them a historic Commonwealth Games title.
In an epic final at Robina Stadium, the Aussie team trailed 12-0 at halftime against their archrivals but rallied with tries to Emilee Cherry and Ellia Green to draw level at 12-12.
The Aussies went on the attack after the full-time siren had sounded but in a bizarre mix-up, rookie Cassie Staples kicked the ball into touch after a “miscommunication” in the deafening roar translated an urge to “have a crack” into “kick it out”.
Both teams were absolutely legless in the five minutes of extra time, and even with Charlotte Caslick off the field with a head knock Australia almost scored a try to win.
But New Zealand’s desperate defence saved them and flyer Kelly Brazier then sprinted 80 metres to win the game and the gold.
It was sweet revenge for the Kiwis after they were gutted to lose the Olympic final to Australia in Rio, and for the Aussies it was their turn to taste the unmerited pain of winning silver in a team sport.
“They’re pretty shattered. They gave it everything and didn’t get the result. Very disappointed,” said coach Tim Walsh post-game.
“We had our chances, that’s probably the biggest thing. So did the New Zealanders, and they were the last ones to get over and score the try.”
Captain Shannon Parry said the team had given New Zealand too much turnover ball in a very tense final, but praised the Kiwis as the best team across the weekend.
The sight of Aussie players exhausted and in tears after the game showed how much it meant, said Parry.
“We had Kurt Fearnley present our jerseys and he said just give it absolutely everything you’ve got,” Parry said.
“That’s what we did out there. You couldn’t ask, as a skipper, for anything more than 1 AUSTRALIA 2 ENGLAND 3 INDIA 4 CANADA 5 N.ZEALAND 6 S AFRICA 7 WALES 8 SCOTLAND 9 NIGERIA 10 CYPRUS 80 26 20 20 15 40 27 15 16 15 13 11 13 10 12 14 9 13 22 9 9 6 815 what we had out there today.”
Parry said Staples was distraught about her brain fade but she and Walsh stressed she shouldn’t be blamed for the defeat given the number of other mistakes and unconverted chances in the match.
“I was on the bench but I have spoken to Cassie and a few of the players and they were saying ‘have a crack, have a crack’,” Parry said.
“That got misinterpreted to kick out. Just a bit of miscommunication. That crowd could have been a factor as well.”
WE HAD OUR CHANCES, THAT’S PROBABLY THE BIGGEST THING