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Why Aussie captain wants France to beat NZ in Cup Final

By Finn Morton
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

France stunned the rugby world on Saturday evening as they knocked reigning World Series champions Australia out of their home event in Sydney.

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Well, technically they did it twice.

Home crowd favourites Australia were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the men’s competition in controversial fashion, as Thomas Carol converted a penalty attempt with the final play of the game.

But that wasn’t the biggest surprise from Day Two.

Earlier in the day, the Australian Women’s Sevens team were also knocked out of the Cup Final race… by France… in the quarterfinals.

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Chloe Pelle and Carla Neisen stunned the home crowd with a try each, and while Faith Nathan was able to claw one back, it wasn’t enough.

Australia were left to rue what could’ve been following the 5-10 defeat.

As the players walked down the North-West tunnel of Allianz Stadium, they were clearly disappointed.

Playing in front of their home fans, some for the first time in an Australian Sevens jersey, the champion team had fallen short of their ultimate goal.

While Australia usually rival New Zealand for Cup Final glory, that won’t be the case in Sydney.

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Instead, the Black Ferns Sevens will look to overcome giant slayers France in a highly anticipated blockbuster on Sunday evening.

New Zealand were already beating Australia by four points on the World Series standing ahead of the Sydney Sevens, and will separate themselves even further regardless of the result.

Speaking after her sides convincing 34-12 win over Fiji in the fifth place playoff, Australian captain Charlotte Caslick revealed who she wants to win the final.

“I guess this season for us (is) all about qualification and we’ll remain in the top four which is our goal for the year,” Caslick told reporters.

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“Hopefully France put on a really good show, obviously losing to them, we’d like them to take it out.

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“For some of the girls they’d never been able to play at home before so it was a really huge occasion,” she added.

“I think we’ll take heaps out of yesterday, it was just a few moments under pressure that we didn’t capitalise (on) and we didn’t respect the ball.

“France have been awesome this whole campaign so we’re looking forward to seeing how they go in the final.”

Australia may have fallen short of Sydney Sevens glory, but there are still some positives to take away from this event.

Some young players, including the talent Teagan Levi, were given some valuable minutes to impress for the national team.

The countdown to next year’s Olympic Games in Paris is well and truly on, so Caslick said this experience will only benefit the Australians.

“In the grand scheme of things we’re obviously looking forward to Paris next year and securing that qualification this year, and then building towards that.

“I think we’ve learnt a lot out of this tournament.

“We’ve still got a really young side, I think Tegan Levi was really great today. I think the experience that she’s gotten from this tournament is going to be huge for her development.”

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Bull Shark 28 minutes ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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