Australia Men & Fiji Women Qualify For The Olympics

November 16, 2015

Australia Men & Fiji Women Qualify For The Olympics

Photos: World Rugby – Australia & Fiji

Doug Coil

Australia won the Oceania Rugby 7s Olympic Qualifier and is going to the Olympics, while the second and third place teams, Tonga and Samoa, will enter the Repechage in June in a winner take all tournament for the last Olympic spot.

Australia was impressive during the entire tournament and remained unbeaten in capturing the tournament title and a berth in the Olympics. In day two action they won against American Samoa, enjoyed a semi-final win against Papua New Guinea and then won against Tonga in the Championship.

Tonga and Samoa, who both qualified for the Olympic Repechage in June, respectively won against Solomon Islands and Nauru. This set up a semi-final match against each other. Samoa was the favorite, however Tonga had an outstanding match and won 41-5 and a place in the Finals.

Samoa entered the third-fourth place match knowing that the winner would gain a berth in the Olympics Repechage. They dispelled Papua New Guinea 34-0 for the win.

The Repechage in June will include Uruguay, Chile, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Sri Lanka, Tonga, Samoa, Tunisia, Morocco and Zimbabwe.

Australia joins host Brazil, Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand, Great Britain, Argentina, United States, France, Japan and Kenya who have qualified for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The Repechage winner in June will gain the last spot at the Olympics.

Women’s Qualifier

In day one action Fiji clearly distinguished themselves as the favorite. Two matches remained in pool action between what would be the top four teams in the tournament. Samoa lost 7-19 to Cook Islands, while Fiji won 43-0 against Papua New Guinea.

The Semi-Finals then featured rematches of the last Poll matches. This time Samoa won 19-17 against Cook Islands and Fiji once against had another win against Papua New Guinea.

At stake in the third place match was a spot in the Olympic Repechage for the winner. Cook Islands made that decision look easy with a 32-0 win over Papua New Guinea.

Fiji and Samoa would square off for the Championship and and qualification for the Olympics, while the second place team would also enter the Repechage tournament in June. Fiji showed with a 55-0 win that they deserved to be in the Olympics.

The Repechage in June will include Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Russia, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Kenya, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Samoa and Cook Islands.

Fiji joins host Brazil, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Colombia, United States, France, South Africa who have qualified for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The Asia winner will be known November 29th. The Repechage winner in June will gain the last spot at the Olympics.

Men’s Results – Day 2

QF1: Tonga 47-0 Solomon Islands

QF2: Samoa 59-0 Nauru

QF3: Papua New Guinea 19-7 Cook Islands

QF4: Australia 52-0 American Samoa

5th-8th ranking semi-final:

Solomon Islands 31-5

Cook Islands 24-19 American Samoa

SF1: Tonga 41-5 Samoa

SF2: Australia 36-0 Papua New Guinea

7th-8th play-off: American Samoa 33-12 Nauru

5th-6th play-off: Solomon Islands 14-17 Cook Islands