Rugby sevens team lose to fired up Argentines
Great Britain’s rugby sevens side, featuring former Maids player Ben Harris, were beaten by a fired-up Argentina in the Olympic bronze medal match in Tokyo yesterday (Wednesday).
A roller-coaster sevens campaign has brought many highs for Team GB, but also a few crushing lows, the worst of which they experienced in yesterday’s semi-final and bronze medal play-offs.
The team, who lost captain Tom Mitchell to injury in their comeback victory over the USA in the quarterfinals, were beaten 17-12 by the Argentines in the bronze medal match.
Comprehensively beaten 29-7 by New Zealand in their semifinal match, they took the lead inside 30 seconds through a try
from Harris, who touched down in the corner after only six minutes.
But Lautaro Bazan Velez broke on the blind side to level the scores before Marcos Moneta stepped inside Dan Norton to cross again. Ollie Lindsay-Hague scored after the interval for GB but Ignacio Mendy ran in the decisive try for Argentina to ensure Harris and his teammates would finish the Games empty handed.
Earlier in the competition Harris was also on the scoresheet as Team GB breezed through to the quarterfinals with big pool wins over Canada and Japan.
GB dominated both of their matches, beating Canada 24-0 in their opener before sealing their place in the knockout rounds with a 34-0 win over Japan.
They weren't at their best in their 26-21 quarterfinal win over the United States, but staged a remarkably comeback from 21-0 down to book their place in the semi-finals with Harris scoring one of those decisive tries.