Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'They were the better team': Aussie 7s star reflects on second consecutive loss

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

The Australian Men’s Sevens team looked like one of the teams to beat after the opening day of this season’s Sydney Sevens at Allianz Stadium.

ADVERTISEMENT

After starting their campaign on home soil with a tense 12-7 win over rivals Great Britain, the hosts appeared to improve with every match they played in Pool A.

Their final pool performance captured the imagination of the home crowd, as they outclassed Hamilton Sevens champions Argentina with a 19-point win.

Video Spacer
Video Spacer

The reigning World Series champions were in red-hot form, and Australian rugby fans would’ve dared to dream big ahead of their crunch clash with France in the Cup quarterfinals.

But that’s when disaster struck.

It all fell apart; it’s Sevens, it can all change in a second.

France opened the scoring through Theo Forner, and while the men in gold scored the next two, the Frenchman added another try to his tally – with the conversion levelling the scores.

But, as the siren sounded, the match was ultimately decided by a Thomas Carol penalty goal.

Heartbreak for the hosts who had fallen short of their championship goal, while the French had mirrored the result of their women’s team.

ADVERTISEMENT

Going into Day Three, Australia had a chance to bounce back against Samoa. But also immediately, it seemed like they weren’t up to the task.

Samoa scored four tries to Australia’s one, as they secured their place in the fifth place final with a 24-10 win.

Australian Sevens star Henry Paterson walked down the North-West tunnel drenched in sweat, having left everything out there on the field.

The try-scorer was quiet; seemingly in a state of shock, as he reflected on his sides second loss in as many games.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Just wasn’t our day today, full credit to Samoa. They got the better of us, they were the better team,” Paterson told reporters.

“We missed a few areas in our execution, can’t fault the boys’ effort but Samoa were the better team.

Related

“Every single minute of this tournament, up until the end of that France game, our focus was to win the thing. We weren’t here to compete, we’re here to win it,” he added.

“We were building towards playing the footy that can get us there.

“Knowing that we had an opportunity to win the whole thing… that’d be tough, tough to rewatch (the France quarterfinal).”

It’s a tough blow for the men in gold as well, as they’re made to settle for an equal seventh at their end of their home tournament.

Potentially, they could potentially sit around 20 points behind New Zealand on the overall standings.

As Paterson said, every point counts.

“I think that’s just the nature of Sevens, the best teams take the sort of stuff in their stride.

“If it’s a semi-final or if you’re playing off for fifth, every point counts this year so the best teams need to bounce back in the morning.

“That’s what we should have done and we weren’t able to do it today.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Boks Office | Episode 35 | Six Nations Round 2 Review

O2 Inside Line: This Rose | Episode 3 | France Week

Second round of the Men's Six Nations | Whistle Watch

Harlequins vs Bristol Bears | PWR 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

Yokohama Canon Eagles vs Saitama Wildknights | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

The Dupont Ploy: How France went from underdogs to Olympic gods | The Report

Former rugby player is truly an NFL superstar | Walk the Talk | Jordan Mailata

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

k
kumar supriya 1 hour ago
Waratahs plotting unprecedented 29-season Super Rugby first in 2025

MY NAME IS SUPRIYA KUMAR FROM INDIA PLEASE FIND TIME TO READ THIS CAREFULLY.              AS WE ALL KNOW INDIA IS NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF MAGIC SO DO NOT IGNORE THIS. BE CAREFUL HERE, NOBODY CAN HELP YOU FROM AFRICA OR EVEN SUGGEST HOW YOU CAN GET YOUR EX OR LOVE BACK, ANY TESTIMONIES OF MOST SPELL CASTER FROM AFRICA HERE MUST BE IGNORED, BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE SCAM I MEAN REAL SCAM AND FROM AFRICA WHICH I WAS A VICTIM AND I GOT RIPPED OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE I WAS SO ANXIOUS TO GET MY HUSBAND JOHN BACK AFTER HE LEFT ME FOR OVER 2YEARS WITH MY 3YEARS OLD SON JERRY,I HAVE APPLIED TO 7 DIFFERENT SPELL CASTER HERE I MET ON THIS BLOG AND ALL TO NO AVAIL THEY ALL ASK FOR SAME THING SEND YOUR NAME YOUR EX NAME ADDRESS AND PICTURE PHONE NUMBER ETC WHICH I DID OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND MOST OF THEM WERE FROM AFRICA, I WAS SO CONFUSED AND I WAS ALWAYS SICK BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM AND I WAS SO DESPERATE TO HAVE JOHN BACK TO ME I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AND COULD DIE FOR HIM. UNTIL A FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS THE GREATEST SPELL TEMPLE, (templeofdreams1@gmail.com) TEMPLE OF BLACK AND WHITE (GOOD AND EVIL) IN INDIA, AND I DECIDED TO SEND A MAIL TO THE TEMPLE. THE SECRETARY TOLD ME THAT ALL MY PROBLEM ARE OVER SINCE I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT INDIA FOR HELP, HE TOLD ME TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN ME AND MY EX HUSBAND JOHN AND I DID, I TOLD HIM ALL THAT HAPPENED FROM THE BEGINNING. AND HE SAID TO ME MY CHILD WHAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED TO ME NOW IS A LITTLE PROBLEM TO HANDLE COMPARE TO SERIOUS PROBLEMS THE TEMPLE HAS HANDLED, I WAS SO SHOCKED AND I SAID TO MY SELF WHAT PROBLEM COULD BE MORE SERIOUS THAN THIS. HE TOLD ME WHAT I NEEDED TO DO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT WHAT HE SAID LOOK SIMILAR TO WHAT I HAVE HEARD IN THE PAST(THAT I WAS TO PAY FOR THE ITEMS NEEDED), I WAS HAVING DOUBT ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF PAST EXPERIENCE, BUT I DECIDED TO TRY SINCE THE TEMPLE IS LOCATED IN INDIA (ASIA) AND NOT AFRICA (NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA) THEY COULD BE REAL AND DIFFERENT. SO I GAVE THEM 50% OF MY TRUST. THIS WAS LIKE A MAGIC AND DREAM COME TRUE TO ME, AFTER TWO DAYS WHEN THE SPELL HAS BEEN CASTEED, JOHN BEEPED MY PHONE AT ABOUT 9:PM I COULD NOT SLEEP THAT NIGHT BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE JOHN AND WANT HIM BACK. BY 7:AM THE NEXT MORNING HE GAVE ME ANOTHER  MISSED CALL I DECIDED NOT TO CALL BACK AS I WAS STILL ON SHOCK,   AT ABOUT 10:AM THAT MORNING HE CALLED AND I PICKED HE SAID CAN WE SEE AFTER WORK TODAY I SAID YES SO HE ENDED THE CALL IMMEDIATELY I GOT OFF WORK HE CALLED ME AND TOLD ME WERE TO MEET HIM, I WAS STILL ON SHOCK, BEHOLD WHEN I GOT THERE I SAW JOHN CRYING WITH TEARS ALL OVER HIS EYES, AND HE SAID TO ME MY WIFE, I AM SO SORRY IMMEDIATELY I HUGGED HIM AND KISSED HIM WHICH I HAVE MISSED ALL THIS YEARS. ALL THANK TO TEMPLE OF DREAMS. IF YOU ARE A MAN OR A WOMAN READING THIS AND YOU ARE PASSING THROUGH SIMILAR PROBLEMS LIKE MINE, DO NOT FAIL TO CONTACT THIS GREAT TEMPLE. HE IS REALLY INDEED A REAL SPELL CASTER.           THE WORST OF ALL IS THAT I DON’T KNOW THE PARTICULAR DOCTOR THAT HELPED ME AS I WAS TOLD THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 300 SPELL CASTERS WORKING IN THE TEMPLE, UNLIKE THE SINGLE SCAM DOCTORS IN AFRICA. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID OF THE SPELL CASTERS IN AFRICA BECAUSE THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS ASSURED AND GAVE ME HUNDRED PERCENT PROTECTION AND ALSO HELPED ME RECOVER 50% OF MY MONEY THAT I PAYED TO SCAMS FROM AFRICA SOME SERVICES RENDERED IN THE TEMPLE OF DREAMS (1) If you want your ex back. (2) To cure HIV/AID or related illness (3) You want to be promoted in your office. (4) You want women/men to run after you. (5) If you want a child. (6) Are you a contractor and you want to win contract (7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever. (8) If you need help spiritually. (9) How you been scammed and you want to recover you lost money.     (10)Stop Divorce (11)Invoking of Money Ritual (12)To verify if your online lover is real (13)To verify if your online loan is real (14)To be very brilliant (15)If you are looking for a good job (16)If you are old and want to look young (17) If you want to be free from threats of spell caster in AFRICA And many more.. Email... templeofdreams1@gmail.com  

1 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING 'It’s not comfortable': England training turns 'edgy' before Scotland 'It’s not comfortable': England training turns 'edgy' before Scotland
Search