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Australia aren't 'looking for any excuses' following shocking quarter-final exit
By Finn Morton
The Australian Women’s Sevens team aren’t “looking for any excuses” following their shocking quarter-final exit at the Sydney Sevens.
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Reigning World Series champions Australia are a team who expects excellence, and they would’ve been eager to put on a show in front of their home supporters this week.
Australia qualified for the Cup quarterfinals after three convincing wins in pool play, including a 43-7 win over eventual semi-finalists Ireland.
The women in gold seemed be tracking quite well ahead of their sudden death blockbuster against France on Saturday evening.
But it just didn’t go to plan.
French star Chloe Pelle scored the sole try of the first-half in the seventh minute, after Australian captain Charlotte Caslick was shown a yellow card for a high tackle.
The match went from bad to worse for Australian rugby fans though, as Les Bleus doubled their advantage through Carla Neisen.
While a late try to Faith Nathan sent the vibrant home crowd into a frenzy, as they dared to dream along with their champion team, it just wasn’t meant to be.
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But to their credit, they showed plenty of character early on Day Three. Australia returned to Allianz Stadium for their fifth place semi-final against Great Britain, which they won 19-nil.
While Head Coach Tim Walsh still doesn’t believe the performed “that well at all” on the final day, he spoke about the “unknows” the team has learnt from over the past few days.
“In age, (we’re) young and we’ve got some learning to do, but I don’t like saying ‘oh they’re a young team.’ Not looking for any excuses,” Walsh told reporters.
“They’re a team that’s performed very well and got a lot of experience despite their age, so that’s not an out for us.
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“This is an unknown situation in terms of the distractions that are forthcoming being here, and the excitement and emotional energy.
“It’s certainly a character magnification and something which they have worked hard at and they came out here and gave everything, but they’ve got to be able to do it at both ends in attack and D.”
Australia may not be competing for silverware in front of their home fans today, but not all hope is lost.
This is a team who will carry genuine gold medal ambitions into next year’s Olympic Games, and will still hang on to hope throughout this season’s World Series.
“This tournament magnified where we’re at I think going forward because of all those unknowns,” he added.
“You learn more from your losses but look they’re a great team, they’ve got a lot of success, and they’re great individuals.
“It’s a game of footy you can lose in 14 minutes and your whole tournament can change.
“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing, and we know our competitive advantage and our point of difference is going to get us to that point so we’re looking forward to the next game and then moving forward.”
