Australia

Aussies out of rugby sevens medal contention after loss to Fiji, Stingers lose to Spain


Australia’s defence of its Olympic women’s rugby sevens title is over following a 14-12 quarter-final defeat by Fiji.

Australia, who beat New Zealand in the final at the Rio Olympics, won its opening two Pool C matches on Thursday.

 But a 14-12 loss to the United States in their final pool encounter earlier on Friday put the Australians on collision course with Fiji.

Tries inside the opening four minutes from Alowesi Nakoci and Ana Maria Naimasi put Fiji 14-0 up in the first half.

But an unconverted Faith Nathan try for Australia late in the half cut Fiji’s lead to 14-5 at the break.

Fiji clung to its scoreboard advantage in the second half, with Charlotte Caslick’s converted try in the final 45 seconds not enough for the Rio gold medallists to snatch a late win.

“It was probably one of the hardest games I’ve ever played and I think credit to the Fijian girls for coming out there as strong as they did,” Caslick said.

“I guess we shifted that momentum, but we just didn’t have enough time.

“We have some young girls and they’re going to learn from it, they’re going to be a lot better for it.”

Fiji faces New Zealand in Saturday’s first semi-final.

Great Britain and France will contest the other semi-final. The gold medal match will be played on Saturday night.

New Zealand brushed aside the challenge of the team representing the Russian Olympic Committee with a comprehensive 36-0 quarter-final victory.

Stingers fall to Spain

Spain proved too strong for the Australian women’s water polo team, winning 15-9 in their Group A match.

The Stingers were in the contest for much of the match, trailing by a single goal (7-6) at half-time.

But Spain pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Stingers 8-3 in the final two quarters.

Bronte Halligan with the ball during the Stingers’ loss to Spain.(

Reuters: Kacper Pempel

)

It was the Stingers’ first loss in Tokyo following victories over Canada (8-5) and The Netherlands (15-12).

They face South Africa in their final group match on Sunday.

Spain is on top of Group A via a 3-1 win-loss record, with the Stingers second on the standings with a match in hand.

Opals lose to China in nail-biting clash

The Australian Opals were tied 38-all against China at half-time, but were defeated in a tense fourth quarter which saw their opponents surge ahead to win 76-74.

The Opals lost their opening two games and will now face Puerto Rico in their final match on Monday night.

AP



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