Australia has gone within a whisker of causing an upset over New Zealand in the Gold medal match at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Led superbly by James Stannard, the Aussies led the Gold Medal favorites with 4 minutes remaining until a late surge of Black saw New Zealand overrun the Aussies and claim a 24-17 win and secure their fourth Commonwealth Games Gold medal.
Whatever the final result, Australia were going to claim their best ever 7’s finish at the Commonwealth Games and proved they were going to put up a fight. Australia had New Zealand on the back foot in the opening exchanges and even managed a 5m scrum after a kick through from James Stannard. A free kick after a scrum infringement could have led to a Robbie Coleman try but was called back for not being taken on the mark. Australia turned the ball over and gave away a penalty that eventually saw New Zealand get the first score on the board in the 4th minute through Lote Raikabula after good lead up work from Captain DJ Forbes. With the simple conversion New Zealand were up 7-0.
Australia were lucky not to go further behind after botching a lineout on attack, the Kiwis were certain to score after a Kurt Baker line break except for a great covering tackle from Robbie Coleman. Lachie Turner showed his kicking prowess and belted the ball down field to safety.
James Stannard started to control the Aussie attack and caused a few problems for the Kiwi defense and his line break was stopped by a head high tackle Liam Messam that saw him banished for 2 minutes. The extra man advantage was used effectively and Nick Phipps sent Lachie Turner over in the corner to put Australia on the board. The scoring for the half hadn’t ended there when Luke Morahan received the ball 10m on his own side of halfway and with few options he decided to kick and chase and he managed to outrun the cover defense and score right on half time to make the score 10-7.
The Aussies liked their chances of an upset in the second half and got off to a perfect start with Stannard scoring a great try that saw him run in untouched from the 22m after great lead up by Kimani Sitauti. After Stannard converted his own try, the men in canary yellow were up 17-7 with 8 minutes remaining. Could Australia go on and secure a great victory or would they wake the giant?
Unfortunately, the Kiwis woke up and they started to show why they are undefeated in Commonwealth Games 7’s action as Sherwin Stowers showed a clean pair of heels to score under the posts and he proved the Kiwis meant business by quickly converting his own try. He was denied another try not long after and was brought down in the corner by a Lachie Turner try saver as the line beckoned.
With the clock winding down, New Zealand secured a penalty after Australia hung onto the ball inside their 22m area and it was only a matter of time before New Zealand would score again, and they did through DJ Forbes to put his team back in front 19-17.
Australia would push up the field for a famous victory and it appeared it could happen after Nick Phipps made a great break down the left side but to the heartbreak of Aussie fans, Liam Gill stuck out a hand to regather the ball only to knock it on. With time basically up, the Kiwis spread the ball wide and Stowers once again showed his pace to evade Lachie Turner and send Kurt Baker over to send the New Zealand team home with the Gold Medal.
New Zealand 24 – Raikablua, Stowers, Forbes, Baker Tries; Stowers, Baker Cons
Australia 17 – Turner, Morahan, Stannard tries; Stannard Con
Australia has managed to unearth some talent for the future with some names to look out for in coming years. Players of the tournament for me were James Stannard, Luke Morahan and Liam Gill.
In the Bronze Medal playoff, South Africa defeated England 17-14.
Below are reports of Australia’s earlier matches on day 2.
Quarter Final AUSTRALIA vs Kenya
Day 2 action for Australia started with a Quarter Final match against Kenya. Australia were prepared to take on Samoa but a surprise win in the last match of the previous night by Kenya over Samoa saw a quick switch of tapes for the video review session.
Australia kicked off and the theme of scrappy restarts continued as the ball found its way into touch. Australia redeemed themselves and stole the ensuing line out and a midfield break by Luke Morahan saw him offload to Sean Foley for a try within in a minute.
Australia showed a new enthusiasm on day 2 and showed some good defensive work throughout the first half, pinning the Kenyans down in their own 22m area. Luke Morahan showed a little too much enthusiasm with hands in the ruck and was penalised accordingly. However, Kenya failed to clear the ball and a turn over and and resulting slowing the play down, saw the Africans down to 6 men for 2 minutes.
James Stannard took advantage of the extra man and scored himself in the 4th minute. He was unlucky not convert his own try as it rebounded off the upright. He then continued his own good work and scored only 2 minutes later under the sticks and converted to take the score to 17-0.
Right on the the half time siren, Australia showed no they weren’t going to take their foot off the accelerator and line break from Stannard saw him through a pass that looked rather forward find Morahan to finish off the scoring in the first half.
The 2nd half saw Australia regather the restart but continue some scrappy play. Lachie Turner made a break down the wing and he chip kicked ahead trying to use his pace to outrun the opposition. An unfortunate bounce of the ball in the in goal area saw Kenya make their way out and produce their first meaningful attack of the match.
The scrums were once again causing problems for the Australians as Kenya managed to push the Aussies backwards and create sloppy ball at the base of the scrum. With players playing in unfamiliar positions, this was no surprise.
Nick Cummins reverted to his more familiar position on the wing and broke away and scored a try of his own with 3 minutes remaining. James Stannard appeared to not have brought his kicking boots as his conversion attempt was missed.
To their credit, Kenya fought to the end and even scored a consolation try through their Captain Humphrey Kayange which ended the scoring for the match at 27-5.
Australia 27 – Foley, Stannard 2, Morahan, Cummins Tries; Stannard Con
Kenya 5 – Kayange try
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFFd_Mbq5Mo[/youtube]
Semi Final AUSTRALIA vs South Africa
Australia took on South Africa in the Semi Final to decide who would face New Zealand in the Gold Medal match.
The Aussies managed to regather the kick off and spread the ball wide to Luke Morahan to try and outrun the South Africans, but he was caught in possession and resulted in a scrum to the South Africans.
The Aussies were on the back foot and a penalty to South Africa only 10 metres out saw Ryno Benjamin show some nice footwork to side step his way over under the posts. The conversion by Cecil Afrika saw the Africans out to a 7-0 lead.
An injury to Sean Foley saw an early replacement with Brumbies squad member Robbie Coleman take the field after just 3 minutes.
Luke Morahan caused the South Africans headaches with his strong running and in the 4th minute Lachie Turner was the recipient of a Morahan pass that saw him score in the right hand corner to get the Aussies on the board.
The rest of the half was a scrappy affair and the experience of James Stannard showed on the stroke of half time as he made a break down the left wing and he put Liam Gill over to put the Aussies in the lead at 10-5.
Gill also relished the open spaces in the second half and he exploited weak defence down the right wing of South Africa with another line break. The Aussies gained a penalty and a quick tap play saw Stannard score under the posts and convert his own try to take the score to 17-7.
Morahan continued to give the South African’s nightmares with his line breaks and went close to scoring, again down the left wing. A scrum in the last minute saw some skull duggery from the South Africans as Stannard took exception to some antics from his opposite number and unbelievably, he was called for a 2nd row feed but it didn’t affect the final score as Australia ran out 17-7 winners.
Australia 17 – Turner, Gill, Stannard Tries; Stannard Con
South Africa 7 – Benjamin Try; Afrika Con
