Australia played in their first Olympic medal match while South Africa looked to secure their second bronze medal after winning one in Rio. After being the last team to qualify for the Olympic tournament, South Africa looked stronger and better in each match throughout the week. The Springbok’s secured an exciting 26-19 win to capture bronze. 

Intensity was noticeably higher as big hits headlined the first half. A dropped ball by South Africa led to a Nathan Lawson end-to-end try. Right before the end of the half, South Africa’s captain Selvyn Davids executed a perfectly placed kick to bring the Springbok’s within two. 

Midway through the second half, despite a high tackle by Australia’s captain Nick Malouf, Zain Davids scored the go-ahead try for South Africa. Malouf was assessed a red card, which meant Australia would have to play down a man for the remained of the match. Shortly after, Zain Davids scored his second try of the match after he laid a massive hit to scoop the ball.

The Aussies didn’t go away quietly. Corey Toole showed off his speed with a kick-and-scoop try. Down five with under a minute to go, Australia stunned South Africa with a quick try by Henry Paterson to even the score. Dietrich Peter Roache missed the tough conversion for Australia. 

In stoppage time, it was only fitting that Selvyn Davids sealed the win for South Africa. He ran into the back of the try and passed to Shaun Williams to seal the 26-19 win. The Springbok’s avenge their disappointing fifth-place finish in Tokyo.

After the win Ryan Oosthuizen was left speechless, “Honestly, I don’t have words. A lot of people didn’t give us a chance. We only qualified for the Games by repechage, and if someone had said then, ‘You will be standing on the podium at the end’, I never would have believed them".

Match Stats

See the results of the other matches here.