- The Australians hoped to win their first Olympic medal
- Had been knocked out of the quarterfinals for Paris twice in a row
A try after the siren has denied Australia’s men’s rugby sevens team their first Olympic medal, as they were beaten 26-19 by South Africa in the bronze medal match in Paris after being down a man in a split-second decision.
Everything went wrong for Australia. They had little possession in the first half, but then they were given a heavy penalty, with captain Nick Malouf shown a red card by the referee for a high tackle early in the second half.
Malouf was sent off for a high shot during a Blitzboks try-scoring attempt, his shoulder hitting his opponent on the jaw. The split-second incident cost the team dearly.
They trailed 19-7 with two minutes left in the game but miraculously levelled thanks to tries from Corey Toole and Henry Patterson.
Toole brought his team back into the game with a superb effort from distance, also benefiting from a great chase.
Australia’s Mark Nawaqanitawase made a stunning break to score another try.
However, South Africa won the decisive restart and Shaun Williams raced down the left flank to break the Australians’ hearts by scoring in the final action of the match.
Australia’s Hayden Sergeant is tackled during the heartbreaking loss to South Africa, which saw captain Nick Malouf sent off for a high shot
The moment that turned the match: captain Malouf is sent off
The discouragement is written all over the faces of the Australian team after they were denied the bronze medal in a disastrous match
It was still the team’s best Olympic performance, after two consecutive quarter-final eliminations.
Earlier, the Aussies were defeated 31-7 by Fiji in their semi-final, with the opponents scoring all the points without any counter-attack.
Australia led 7-0 against the two-time reigning champions at the Stade de France on Saturday just before half-time, but then had little possession of the ball in the heavy defeat.
A 95-metre try at half-time levelled the scores before Fiji resumed all four tries and scored three more times and a penalty.
Australian star James Turner was unable to make this tackle on Blitzboks’ Tristan Leyds
Ben Dowling scored for Australia, running forward and laying the ball down calmly despite the slippery conditions.
Dietrich Roache then made a successful conversion from the touchline, but after that it went downhill for coach John Manenti’s team.
It marked an abrupt end to a campaign that had been going on for some time as Australia were forced to make a quick reset with a first Olympic medal still up for grabs in the bronze medal play-off later on Saturday.
Fiji was undefeated in the Olympics until they were defeated by France in the final. The home team scored just before the end and won 28-7. The team was overjoyed with the gold.