Photos: World Rugby •
Australia took its medal favorite status all the way to the top of the Olympics podium, performing under the pressure of the first-ever Games and establishing the standard after which future 7s teams will model. Joya Clark, former Collegiate All-American and assistant coach for Norwich University, weighs in what makes Australia – and also New Zealand – great, and what determined the 24-17 victory.
AUSTRALIA: THE GOLD STANDARD
Teams have their standouts – Canada’s Jen Kish, Spain’s Patricia Garcia, USA’s Alev Kelter – but it’s Australia’s arsenal of intelligent, skillful players, unified by years of playing together, that separates it from the field. The fact that Australia has the ability to play Charlotte Caslick at scrumhalf speaks to their depth of players.
Australia spreads the field easily, with 20-meter passes as a normalcy, along with 85% ruck and 90% scrum win rates. Players run onto the ball with pace, quickly reaching the gain line and forcing defenses onto their back foot. Should the defense stutter as a result of quickly accelerating and pace-changing ballcarriers, Australia takes note and attacks the gap it’s made. The ball moves to overloaded sides, where flyers like Emma Tonegato shine, and continues to stress defenses in the middle through strong runners like Caslick and Emilie Cherry.
SECOND-BEST NEW ZEALAND
The Black Ferns’ game-play centers on its players creating and dominating space by attacking with pace using a vast array of side-steps, fends, offloads and passing. That feistiness is complimented by consistency, and New Zealand’s offense knows how to stretch a defense with sideline-to-sideline play. When that space is found, especially on the outside, no one is better at turning that opportunity into damage than Portia Woodman.
Arguably the best finisher in the 7s game, Woodman scored 10 tries during the tournament, but had a few crucial turnovers that led to tries against. She’s nearly impossible to stop in the open field due to her ability to change pace and angle on a dime. She’s also laid out numerous try-saving tackles by rushing the ballcarrier, which has erupted the fans with joy.
New Zealand is often penalized for their aggressiveness at the ruck, but that doesn’t usually set them back too far as a whole.
RIGHTFUL FINALISTS DUEL
Australia got an early line-break, but New Zealand shut it down quickly. The Black Ferns run a passive-aggressive defense, ensuring their line is together and then slowly upping the pace when Australia fumbles or New Zealand is in for the hit.
New Zealand started the half fiery, attempting to out-muscle Australia and taking some tough tackles on defense. Caslick, who has been near-flawless in this tournament, erred on her own five meter with a not-straight lineout. In good attacking position, the Black Ferns did what all good sides do: Made good on a gifted opportunity. New Zealand worked the ball sideline to sideline, until Kayla McAlister was able to fight past Tonegato in the corner for the gold medal game’s first try, 5-0.
Australia attempted to answer with Tonegato on a quick breakaway, but Tyla Nathan-Wong planted the pursuit tackle to prevent the try. New Zealand captain Sarah Goss worked hard to get back on defense to stifle the next phase of attack, but the third offensive surge saw Tonegato get past Nathan-Wong for the tying points, 5-5.
The game’s turning point followed. Woodman earned a yellow card for an intentional knock-on while attempting to manage an Australian breakaway. In a 20-minute final, the yellow card time on the bench is lengthened, and as previously mentioned, good sides make good use of that kind of advantage.
Immediately after Woodman’s exit, Evania Pelite scored on a simple hands-out for the corner try. The flyer was still absent as the second half kicked off, and New Zealand did its best to eat up the clock until numbers evened. But Australia worked hard to get back on offense, raking the ball loose in a defensive ruck. Caslick then did what she does best: manipulated the defense with her aggressive angle changes. She opened up for the switch option with Cherry, who railed the ball up and over the defense for Ellia Green to finish on the outside. Chloe Dalton added the extras for a 17-5 lead.
Nathan-Wong received a penalty close to New Zealand’s try zone, and Australia readied to put the game out of reach. Caslick led the attack, shifting the defense and slipping through and under the defense for the try, which Dalton converted, 24-5.
New Zealand fired back during the final few minutes, and McAlister cracked through line as the passer in a 2-v-2 position, landing for the try, 24-10. In an uncharacteristic move, Nathan-Wong missed an easy conversion.
Woodman, who did not the see the ball much during the match – a credit to the Australian defense – ended the tournament with a line-break up the middle for a try. The grounding coincided with regulation expiring. Nathan-Wong added the conversion for the 24-17 final.
THE GOLDEN RULES
The grueling final reiterated three traits that distinguish the Olympic finalists from the rest of the field:
1. Take advantage of opportunities gifted to you. During Woodman’s four-minute absence, Australia didn’t do anything fancy to get on the scoreboard, and put two tries into the corner by working the numbers mismatch.
2. Defense wins game. Australia allowed minimal line-breaks and had the athletes to chase them down quickly when they did occur. Australia contained Woodman better than any other opponent, and its tries-against occurred in the middle after missed tackles.
3. Gotta finish. All that work that comes before the try – the connecting passes, ball retention, discipline – all builds toward putting five points on the board. However those scoring opportunities present themselves – whether in a yellow-card advantage or a momentary misalignment on defense – teams need to find a way to finish, the way Australia did.
Joya Clark is a graduate of Norwich University (’14) who enjoys coaching and playing quick-paced rugby sevens and union, opposite her time riding fast down hills.
#Olympics