Aday to remember from Nathan Lawson saw Australia’s men’s seven’s Olympic campaign get off to a flying start, as they sealed hard-fought wins over Samoa and Kenya to ensure they make the quarter-finals ahead of tonight’s (10:30pm) final pool clash against Argentina.
On a day where the double gold medallists Fiji delivered a timely reminder of their potency, defence was the order of the day for most sides, including John Manenti’s Australian side as they battled past Samoa (21-14) and Kenya (21-7) overnight.
Australia made a shaky start in the tournament opener, conceding an early try as Dietrich Roache was intercepted by Motu Opetai.
With Maurice Longbottom feeling the heat, three-time Olympic campaigner Henry Hutchison steadied the ship to score and strike back.
Some lovely footwork down the touchline from Nathan Lawson saw Australia take a 14-7 lead, before Hutchison sealed the match by combining with Henry Paterson to score.
“The first game’s always the most nervous, but I thought we settled in pretty nicely into that game,” Hutchison said.
“It was a bit frantic at the start.
“Samoa came out hot and that was a really tough game, but we got better and better. Hopefully we can build into the next game with the back end of our performance.”
After Kenya gave Argentina a freight in their opening match, Manenti’s side were under no illusions about the physical onslaught coming their way.
Fortunately, Lawson helped give Australia the perfect start as he climbed high from the kick restart to win possession and turn defence into attack. The strong start saw Roache get on the outside of his man and slip a lovely offload back on the inside for James Turner to score.
Some s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 and quick thinking from Antony Mboya saw Kenya get back on track as the playmaker responded immediately.
But the tried and tested combination of Roache and Lawson came to the fore once again, as the latter stormed onto a smart kick to open up a seven-point lead.
After Matt Gonzalez was penalised for holding on for the second time in the match, Australia survived another scare as Ben Dowling saved the day with a strong tackle from behind before Lawson got on the ball to win a penalty.
The last-ditched defence was soon to be rewarded as Brumbies flyer Corey Toole, who was well shut down in the opening clash against Samoa, got on the outside and scored his first try of the tournament.
Manenti, who was with the women’s side in Tokyo and witnessed both Australian sevens sides struggle on day one of their respective campaigns in 2021, said there was an element of relief after making a successful start in Paris.
“Naturally there are a bit of nerves there when you’re the first Australian side playing and you want to get off to a good start,” Manenti said.
“Previous Olympics we haven’t had a good first day so we’ve put ourselves in a good position and go in tomorrow against Argentina to have a good shot at them.”
Should Australia beat 2023024 World Series champions Argentina, who beat Kenya (31-12) and Samoa (28-12), they will top their pool and give themselves the best chance of making the last four.
In other results, the USA drew with France 12-12 in their opening clash before being smashed by Fiji 38-12 in a statement match by the double gold-medallists. France, meanwhile, edged past Uruguay 19-12
New Zealand hammered Japan 40-12 before being too strong for South Africa (17-5). It was a tough day for South Africa, who earlier were edged out by Ireland 10-5. In Ireland’s second clash, they too had no dramas against Japan 40-5.
MEN’S RUGBY SEVENS FIXTURES – POOL B
Match 1: Australia 21 defeated Samoa 14
Match 2: Australia 21 defeated Kenya 7
Thursday, July 25: Australia v Argentina (10:30pm AEST)
WOMEN’S RUGBY SEVENS FIXTURES – POOL B
Monday, July 29: Australia v South Africa (12:00am AEST)
Monday, July 29: Australia v Great Britain (3:30am AEST)
Monday, July 29: Australia v Ireland (10:30pm AEST)
