An injury scare for Samu Kerevi and two more yellow cards ensured Australia’s men worked overtime to top their Commonwealth Games pool and set up a rugby sevens quarter-final with Samoa.
John Manenti’s side beat Kenya 7-5 on Saturday morning, Kerevi limping off with a sore right knee to leave him in doubt for the sudden-death clash just hours later at Coventry Stadium.
Don’t miss out! Purchase your tickets for the Rugby Championship
Victory came despite yellow cards to Mark Nawaqanitawase for a lifting tackle and then Nathan Lawson for tackling in the air, Australia defending after the final siren to deny a Kenyan match-winner that would have delighted a crowd firmly behind the underdog.
The two-point win followed a 12-12 draw with Uganda that featured two more yellow cards and a smooth first-up 62-0 defeat of Jamaica on Friday.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie’s heart would have been in his mouth when the star centre, who is playing in Birmingham instead of travelling with the 15-man side for a two-Test tour of Argentina, fell to the ground after he was tackled.
Kerevi was able to hobble off though and then took his place on the bench for the second half but didn’t return.
“It was just a knock; I’ll get checked out but it feels alright,” Kerevi told reporters after the game.
“I’m always confident (I’ll play) but I’ll get a doc on it and see. It was just a big bang but then once it settled down it was fine.”
Australia remain a solid shot at a medal but will have to tidy up their discipline against Samoa, who led New Zealand 17-0 before losing 19-17 to relinquish top spot in their pool.
“They played some outstanding footy,” Kerevi said.
“We’ve been put in some tough spots in the last couple of games and been able to nullify that.
“But the refs are looking at that (poor discipline); we’ve just got to be smarter.
“We just want to ride that wave (and earn some momentum), but yesterday (drawing with Ugana) was a real wake up call for us.”
Earlier the Australian women’s sevens outfit were shocked in a 17-12 loss to Fiji that set up a premature date with fierce rivals New Zealand in Saturday night’s semi-finals.
Discussion about this post