SAINT-DENIS, France – Now that they have reached the Olympic semi-finals for the first time, Ilona Maher and the U.S. women’s rugby sevens team could be just 15 minutes away from a shot at the gold medal.
Maher left Naya Tapper free to score the first try for the USA in the quarter-finals on Monday night and came close to scoring in the 17-7 victory over Great Britain.
Now for the toughest part: a semi-final on Tuesday against defending Olympic champions New Zealand for a place in the night final at the Stade de France.
The New Zealanders defeated China 55-5 in the quarter-finals and look to be peaking at the right time.
So do 2016 gold medalists Australia, with Maddison Levi scoring three tries in their 40-7 quarter-final victory over Ireland to take his tournament tally to an Olympic record 11.
“The record for top scorer sounds pretty good, but Olympic gold medalist would sound even better, so hopefully we can achieve that tomorrow,” Levi said. “I wouldn’t receive these accolades if it weren’t for the team by my side. .
It was the second meeting of the day between these teams and a stark contrast after the Australians narrowly won 19-14 to finish the group stage undefeated.
The seven-series world champions will face Canada’s line-up following a 19-14 victory over hosts France.
The French took top spot in their group with a win over the USA on Monday, but the quarter-final defeat meant two of the three medal-winning women’s teams at the Tokyo Olympics failed to get back into the medal rounds.
France won silver in Tokyo but were confident of doing better and handing the host nation a golden double in Paris after the men’s team led by Antoine Dupont defeated two-time champions Fiji to secure the title on Saturday night.
Two Monday sessions it attracted more than 120,000 spectators at the Stade de France, a record for women’s rugby sevens. Many parochial French fans were left disappointed after Chloe Daniels scored the winning try for Canada.
Fiji’s women won bronze in Tokyo but failed to win a game in Paris, losing to Canada, China and New Zealand in the group stage.
Rugby sevens, which has seven players on each team playing on a full field, is fast and full of attacking opportunities. All 12 teams play two 14-minute games daily for three days, and it can be exhausting.
O Americans bounced back from their group stage defeat to France with an upset over Great Britain that finally gave them a place in the final four.
Maher played a key role in the USA’s first try of the night game, drawing two defenders into an angled run and using his great defense to clear a defender and then releasing Tapper to score in the left corner.
She made another long-range run just before half-time, only stopped by a brilliant save from Jasmine Joyce. Then Kristi Kirshe beat two defenders to score first after the break and give the U.S. a 12-7 lead.
With three minutes remaining, Kirshe picked off a defender and fended off two others on a frantic run before throwing a pass to Sammy Sullivan, who raced to the right corner to extend the lead to 10 points.
“Yes, it was a simple attempt,” said Sullivan, a U.S. Army captain. “I think God was supporting me in that.”
The victory avenged their defeat to the British at the same stage in Tokyo three years ago, which has served as motivation for Maher and his teammates ever since.
“Our team has never been in this position before,” said Sullivan, an Olympic debutant. “I know that for many girls it was a kind of revenge for the last Olympics. But for me, coming in again, it was just about wanting to make those Tokyo girls proud and showing up for them.”
The New Zealanders battled all season with Australia for first place in the seven-a-side world series, finishing first after the league stage but losing the series final in Madrid, where Australia won the title.
New Zealand women have not lost an Olympic semi-final, defeating Canada at that stage before losing the final to Australia in 2016 – when rugby sevens made its Summer Games debut – and defeating Fiji after extra time in Tokyo before defeat France in the end.
For the U.S. to close that record on Tuesday, Sullivan said, “It’s going to be up to us to minimize mistakes and continue to lean into what we do.
“We’re playing American-style rugby, you know, strong, fast and resilient. So tomorrow we just play our game and don’t give them too many opportunities.”
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