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Australia eager to ‘go one better’ in Perth after ‘bloody tough’ Cape Town SVNS
Walking off the field and down the tunnel at Dubai’s The Sevens Stadium, away from the watchful gaze of fans, the Australian men’s sevens team were visibly disappointed after another loss.
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Australia, who had been crowned world champions as recently as the 2021/22 World Series, were knocked out in the Dubai SVNS quarter-finals by eventual champions South Africa.
But there was no denying the result was a fair indication of where the team was at that very moment. “We scraped through,” sevens star Josh Turner told RugbyPass that Sunday morning.
Losses to Ireland and Argentina had set the Aussies up for a must-win pool clash with Spain, and while they were victorious, the men in gold weren’t exactly taking the sevens world by storm.
Instead, as coach John Manenti said, they were left “chasing” the pack during an underwhelming start to the 2023/24 season out in the Dubai desert.
“We had quite a few guys that were coming back from not playing or injuries so there was a bit of rust getting up to speed and then we probably lost a bit of confidence,” Manenti told Rugby.com.au.
“We were up against Ireland and probably should’ve won and then made a few mistakes before bouncing into a hard game that meant we had to win our third to have any hope of going through.
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“We were always chasing.”
But one week is an age in rugby sevens. The opportunity to start anew in Cape Town beckoned, and the Aussies certainly made the most of it with a series of eye-catching performances.
Just one week after their shortcomings in Dubai, the Aussies opened their account in the Western Cape with a promising 20-point win over Olympics-bound Samoa.
New Zealand taught their Trans-Tasman rivals a lesson, though, as the All Blacks Sevens ran up a cricket score on a hot Saturday afternoon.
But the Aussies didn’t throw in the towel. A win over Canada ensured their spot in the knockout rounds, which is where they made their mark against more fancied opponents.
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A 28-nil thumping of hosts South Africa – yes, the same team who bested them in the quarters a week earlier – and a 17-point win over Fiji booked Australia’s place in the Cape Town SVNS final.
“We had probably two of our best performances I can remember in beating South Africa and Fiji,” Manenti said.
“I think the final w probably extended ourselves a little in the sense that we had played the starter big minutes so we had a fairly young group around the main starters so probably eight or nine players played the bulk of the tournament.
“We learnt a lot from it and the boys are pretty keen to go one better in Perth. It’s certainly nice to be playing for medals and it’s such a bloody tough tournament, every game matters because there’s bonus points and for/against. It’s not even an off game, you have an off two or three minutes and you’re in trouble.
“That’s the way it’s going to be all year for the Olympics and every tournament so at last we know by the time we go to Paris, we’re going to be well-versed in how hard it is.
“We’ve had a really strong training block so far, (so) hopefully that continues and we can keep delivering top-four performances and being in the medal mix.”
While the Australians were beaten by SVNS Series leaders Argentina in that decider, they showed a wealth of fight and heart which goes a long way in this sport.
Ahead of the series’ third stop in Australia – more specifically, Perth – the Aussie men will be eager to go one better in front of their home supporters at HBF Park from January 26 to 28.
Tickets are on sale for the upcoming Perth SVNS at HBF Park and can be bought HERE.
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
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