The Australian men’s and Fiji women’s teams claimed places in the rugby sevens tournament at next year’s Olympics by winning their finals at the Oceania regional qualifying tournament on Sunday.
Both teams were unbeaten over two days of qualifying and clinched places at Rio de Janeiro with emphatic victories in their finals: Australia beat Tonga 50-0 and Fiji beat Samoa 55-0.
Tonga was a surprise finalist in the men’s competition, causing the tournament’s major upset when it beat co-favorite Samoa 41-5 in the semifinals.
Samoa went on to beat Papua New Guinea to crucially grab third place, as the second and third teams will get another chance at a final qualifying tournament in June.
The Fiji women were emphatic winners of their five-team competition. After beating Papua New Guinea 43-0 in their final pool match Sunday, the Fiji women — known as the Fijiana — beat the same opponents 58-0 in the semifinals.
“We worked really hard over the last eight weeks at home to get here and we are very happy,” Fijiana captain Anna Maria Roquica said. “We are so pleased to qualify for the Olympics but we know we have to improve our fitness and skills further. Importantly we have to keep believing in ourselves.”
Samoa finished second and the Cook Islands third to also claim places in next year’s final qualifying tournament.
Fiji and New Zealand had previously qualified for the men’s Olympic tournament after top-four finishes on the World Sevens circuit.
Source: AP
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