The women’s rugby tournament continued on Monday with classification matches and the anticipated quarterfinal matchups.
The United States beat Great Britain to advance to the semifinals against New Zealand, while Canada shocked host nation France to set up a showdown with Australia in the semifinals. See the final results here.
Great Britain vs. United States
The Americans got the better of Great Britain in the quarterfinal rematch from Tokyo, and with a 17-7 win, the U.S. advanced to the semifinals to play for a medal in Paris.
The match started with a rare sevens maul and Great Britain gained possession off the Sammy Sullivan turnover. Isla Norman-Bell then ran a switch play to open the field for Eleanor May Boatman to place the ball down for the early 7-0 lead.
A timely response from American co-captain and all-time leading try scorer Naya Tapper pulled the United States within two. She hit the gap with speed and ran the ball down the sideline for the easy put in. Tapper then had a try-saving tackle to stop Great Britain’s threat before Jasmine Joyce made her own show-stopping tackle to stop Ilona Maher from a breakaway try.
In the second half, Kristi Kirshe received the ball into her hands off the Americans' perfectly executed opening kickoff and the U.S. took a five-point lead. The Americans had momentum on their side in the second half, using their size to disrupt Great Britain’s ability to control the ball.
Later in the half, three-time Olympian Alev Kelter and Kirshe executed textbook physical play to set up Sullivan for the insurance try and ten-point lead.
The saying goes "defense wins championship" and Kirshe made another impact play when she initiated a monster tackle on Jade Shekells with 90 seconds remaining. Moments later, Kirshe was called for not rolling away, but Amy Wilson-Hardy made a fatal error trying to quick tap on the penalty and knocked the ball on turning the ball back over to the Americans. The U.S. successfully maintained possession and captured the 17-7 win over Great Britain.
After the match, Sullivan spoke about what the win meant to her. “We have been in this position before, and I know for many girls this was a kind of payback for the last Olympics. But for me, coming in new, it was just really about wanting to make those girls proud and show up for them. It is a dream come true".
It’s the first time the Americans have advanced past the quarterfinals at the Olympics. They will face powerhouse New Zealand in the semifinals.
Great Britain's captain, Emma Uren, summed up the disappointment from the Brits: “God, this sport is brutal, sevens even more than XVs. You never know what you come out with. We are properly punched", adding “You can always look back at games and think, where did you go wrong, and how you can be better. That is just the point we are now. We are so hard on ourselves and our performances. So there are always those little pieces."
France vs. Canada
A young Canadian squad was up against a tough task in host nation and medal favorite France. In a highly contested match, a shocked crowd witnessed a 19-14 upset by the Canadians.
The scoreless stalemate was broken when Piper Logan picked up the ball from a scrum near the Canadians' own 22-meter line. She sprinted down the field for the five-point advantage and the Canadians drew first blood to quiet the 69,000 strong crowd.
As time expired in the first, Canada made an errant pass and the ball went into touch. With time expired, France chose to gamble and played the ball. Chloe Jacquet drew two defenders on attack, which created a gap for Ian Jason to run the ball home, and the teams entered the half tied at 7 all.
Early in the second half, textbook back play from France led to a perfectly timed pass to Yolaine Yengo for a 14-7 lead. With under three minutes to play, Canada’s Logan executed a carbon copy of her first half try, when she scooped the ball off the back of a scrum for a much shorter run and evened the score at 14.
Former rugby player of the year Anne-Cecile Ciofani made a crucial error late and knocked the ball and lost possession for France. Moments later, Chloe Daniels picked the ball weak side to score the go-ahead try for Canada. France threatened to answer as time expired, but the underdogs held on for the 19-14 upset and silenced the stunned French crowd.
Team leader Chloe Pell was brutally honest after the match saying she was disappointed. “I’m retiring after the Olympics. We gave everything we had. I won’t be there but I hope for the next one we can win the title," she said. “I still feel like I haven’t done enough. I didn’t win gold and I’m going to be disappointed for the rest of my life that I’ve never won gold. Sorry.”
Canada's Asia Hogan-Rochester summed up the sport and defeat beautifully: “It is very humbling to step on the field and to know that your opponent is going to respect you enough to go hard, to be their very best. And the crowd loves their team enough to create the loudest noise that any of us have played in. It was definitely an unforgettable moment. But it is truly an honor to play in a full stadium at the Olympics against the home team. France has put an amazing effort in, and we definitely had to work for it."
She ended with, “It is a brutal sport, and it can be unforgiving. There are quick turnarounds. We have to get up and be ready for the semifinal tomorrow and try to do what we do every day to end up with a success.”
Australia vs. Ireland
Australia looked to put its fifth-place finish in Tokyo in the past as Ireland looked to make the medal round in its first Olympics. Thanks to relentless first half, Australia secured the 40-7 win over Ireland.
A familiar sight in Paris, Maddison Levi scored back-to-back-to-back tries for Australia to give them a comfortable 19-0 lead and give Levi her third hat trick of the tournament. Teammate Faith Nathan added her own try as the Aussies looked like they were playing with two extra women on the pitch.
The second half was more of the same with tries from Isabella Nasser and Bienne Terita. Stacey Flood scored the lone Irish try in the losing effort.
The Aussies will face Canada in the semifinals.
Levi was humble when asked about breaking the all-time try record for the Olympics. "It sounds pretty good. I guess 'gold medalist' would be a little bit better, so hopefully we come back tomorrow".
She made sure to credit her teammates too. "As I always say, I wouldn’t be getting these accolades if it wasn’t for the team around me. It helps they put me in good space to best utilize my skills."
New Zealand vs. China
The Black Ferns faced China in the first of the quarterfinal matchups. The gold medal favorites made light work of the Chinese for a 55-5 win.
New Zealand wasted no time off the opening kickoff when Theresa Setefano scooped the ball and sprinted most of the field before she offloaded it to Sarah Hirini for an easy try.
Size definitely factored into the match in more than one way, as 6-foot Hirini was assessed a yellow card for a high tackle midway through the first. China used the man advantage to convert a well-executed try by Dou Xinrong.
On the resulting kickoff, Joja Miller split the defenders before she popped the ball to Jazmin Hotham, who ran it home to give the Black Ferns a comfortable 14-5 lead. Leading-try scorer Michaela Blyde and Portia Woodman didn’t want to be left out of the offensive outburst, and the duo added tries of their own to help put New Zealand up 24-5 at the half.
Blyde and Hotham each secured their second try of the match in the second half as New Zealand scored nine total tries in the match. Blyde has seven tries in the tournament with two more matches to play.
South Africa vs. Japan
In the first classification match between South Africa and Japan, a strong second half powered Japan to a 15-12 win over South Africa.
To open the scoring, Libbie Janse Van Rensburg’s physicality helped South Africa take a 5-0 lead. Japan answered right away when Hara Wakaba turned on the jets for a coast-to-coast try to even the score.
Off a turnover, Nadine Roos scooped the ball and ran right into the try for the 12-5 lead at half.
With two and a half minutes remaining, Kajiki Marin exploited an overload and raced down the sideline for five points. Momentum shifted to Japan as Kajiki scored another try in similar fashion to put Japan up by three. That’s all they’d need for the classification win.
Fiji vs. Brazil
Tokyo bronze medalist Fiji was disappointed to be playing in a classification match, and insult was added to injury when Brazil stole the win at the last second for a 28-22 win.
Gabriela Lima opened the match for Brazil with a runaway try and early lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Adi Vani Buleki answered with a perfect catch on the kickoff, and she was off to the try zone.
Things settled down, until Ana Maria Naimasi converted a try from close range to give Fiji a 10-7 lead. The first half was a high-scoring affair, and Brazil retook the lead when tiny Thalia Costa sprinted 80 meters untouched for the try.
Fiji’s frustration showed near the end of the half when they were assessed a yellow card for not releasing the ball on the ground. Lima capitalized on the man advantage to score her second try of the half.
Brazil looked to be in control of the match until Laisana Likuceva stole the ball in a lineout to bring Fiji within six. Brazil looked like they were going to add to their total on the restart until a dropped ball saw Naimasi return the ball from the 22, she’d convert her own score to give Fiji a one-point lead with 50 seconds remaining.
As the horn sounded, Yasmim Soares juked a defender and ran the ball 99 meters down the field for the game-winning try. All in all, it was a devastating loss for Fiji in tournament they’ll want to forget.