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The Australian men’s Rugby Sevens team has been ejected from the competition after losing 22-5 to South Africa in the quarter-finals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Australia played South Africa twice in one day, meeting them earlier in their last pools match knowing they needed a win to make the quarter-finals.
And they got it, triumphing in a tight battle, 12-5. As one of two third-place qualifiers, they found themselves in the unusual position of being matched up with one of their pools opponents in the quarters.
» Re-live the action in our live blog of the rugby sevens
Try as they might, they just couldn’t repeat the dose – the South Africans put on the first two tries of the match and while Australia got one back before half time, it would be their last and only score of the fixture.
South Africa piled on two more tries in the second half, one of them converted, to finish with the dominant 22-5 scoreline and end Australia’s hopes of winning a medal in the event.
Australia will still feature in tomorrow’s matches as part of the 5th-8th play-off, with their first scheduled to take place against Argentina at 3am (AEST).
Six other teams made the quarter-finals – the other three match-ups were Fiji against New Zealand, Japan against France, and Great Britain against Argentina.
Fiji knocked out a New Zealand outfit still reeling from the injury to Sonny Bill Williams earlier in the day 12-7, Japan came back from 0-7 to win 12-7, while Great Britain and Argentina fought it out for no score until Great Britain went up 5-0 in extra time.
It’s bad news for Williams unfortunately, whose Achilles injury will see him ruled out for up to nine months, and certain to miss the upcoming Rugby Championship.
We are left with two exciting semi-finals tomorrow – Fiji will go up against Japan, and Great Britain are against South Africa. The semi-finals are on at 3:30am (AEST) and 4:00am (AEST) respectively.
Quarter-finals scores
Fiji 12 defeated New Zealand 7
Japan 12 defeated France 7
Great Britain 5 (aet) defeated Argentina 0
South Africa 22 defeated Australia 5
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.