Kiwis are worthy winners of best ever tournament

AFTER the Lord Mayor’s show...came the best Women’s Sevens tournament in history and a seminal moment in the development of Women’s Rugby. A joyous tournament that excited rugby followers around the world and absolutely cemented Sevens’ position as a core team sport at the modern-day Olympics.

Any one of the four semi-finalists would have been worthy winners and rather wonderfully the includes the Fiji team who took bronze just five years after the women’s programme was formed on their island nation. The first Olympic medals ever won by a Fijian woman.

The athletic, skilful, and gritty Fijian women lit up the competition but ultimately it was a well-drilled and very pacy New Zealand team that saved their best for last and deservedly took gold with a 26-12 win over France in the final.

Fiji meanwhile defeated Great Britain 21-12 in the third-place playoff game – a tumultuous final day watched by IOC president Thomas Bach who must have been left wondering why it took his organisation so long to get rugby back into the Olympics.

It started with marginal favourites New Zealand scraping into the final with a golden point extra-time try by Gayle Broughton to beat the Fijians 22-17. A thunderous game had been levelled in the final minute of extra-time with a try by the outstanding Reapi Ulunisau.