Fiji have steamrolled Great Britain in the final of the rugby sevens tournament in Rio to win their first medal at an Olympic Games.
The British were helpless from the very start of the final, when they conceded a try in the first 60 seconds. It’s a well-deserved gold medal for Fiji who stacked on try after try in both halves.
In what seemed like history waiting to happen, Fiji achieved a number of firsts. They’re the inaugural (and hopefully not last) Olympic Rugby Sevens champions.
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They’re also the first (team or individual) to win a medal of any kind in any event for Fiji in Olympic history in what is a huge day for the passionate island nation. There’s little doubt that the entire nation would have been up watching their men take home gold.
Fiji brushed Britain aside like they were a local team made up from blokes at the pub in the final. They are double defending Sevens World Series champions and now defending Olympic champions.
Great Britain may have had a final to forget, but they can go home with their heads held high, taking silver against the odds in a stacked sevens competition.
Outstanding wins from them over South Africa and New Zealand throughout the Games saw them progress all the way to the final, which is a fantastic if somewhat unexpected achievement for the side.
Earlier, South Africa defeated Japan to take the bronze medal, which they may be slightly disappointed with considering their form in the World Series.
New Zealand and Australia were both knocked out in the quarter-finals.
GOLD – Fiji
SILVER – Great Britain
BRONZE – South Africa
4th – Japan
5th – New Zealand
6th – Argentina
7th – France
8th – Australia
9th – United States
10th – Spain
11th – Kenya
12th – Brazil
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
Mason , Fiji are, at this point in history, the best team. With daylight second. Given that the game has evolved to this exceptionally high standard it could be well argued that Fiji are now the' best 7's side in history' Best team 'over history' is another concept. But it's not about NZ. Except for certain posters, who believe that everything is. Congratulations to Fiji, their amazing team and their fantastic culture and people!
Mason
Guest
Yes this is about fiji however PeteK once again made a statement that facts do not back up and therefore he has brought NZ into the argument. Fiji are one of the powerhouses of 7s rugby that is undeniable but they are not the best team in history. Now can we go back to celebrating the victory at hand and not making up facts.
Mason
Guest
Fiji's win is great but lets get off the band wagon for a second and stop and think rationally. As a sport purely they were raging hot favourites going into these games, they were simply on a whole other level for most of the sevens series leading into the Olympic games. Fiji are one of the top and most consistent nations in 7s rugby for decades they are not a one trick pony who just turned up out of the blue. I think people are getting a little carried away slightly in their praise acting like they have never accomplished such a feat before. it can and rightfully argued that the Hong Kong 7s are much harder to win as are any of the world series legs as more teams are involved and fit has won plenty of of these aforementioned tournaments before and won games in front of much bigger crowds. It's great they got their first ever gold medal but you could see this (7s win) coming a mile off it was not unexpected.
CUW
Guest
errrrr no , its not the highlight of Olympics so far. yes its great for Fiji to win their first ever medal at Olympics , and its great for rugger as a game to have it in olympics. but the highlight of the Olympics to date has been one man, the Baltimore Bullet , Michael Phelps. AND who could have scripted his last individual race to be one of the greatest races in history, when he tied for silver with his 2 long-term foes - Chad Le Clos and Laszlo Cseh , in the 100m fly. of course a close second has been Simone Biles who has been called the best female gymnast since Nadia Comaneci. and third highlight , though its a low-light was that both Serena and Joker lost in the first round of tennis!!! its unfortunate that even countries who play and enjoy rugger did not pay much attention to . at least the Brazilians embraced it with their typical fun and passion - else the stadium would have been empty !!!
CUW
Guest
famos grouse?
CUW
Guest
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3735501/Rio-Olympics-2016-Fijian-rugby-players-kneel-respectfully-Princess-Anne-awards-gold-medal.html
CUW
Guest
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3735501/Rio-Olympics-2016-Fijian-rugby-players-kneel-respectfully-Princess-Anne-awards-gold-medal.html
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
Give yourself an uppercut 7. Was this just jingoistic myopia or an attempt to steer attention away from a code that is not NR or AF L?
Ken Carchpole's Other Leg
Guest
great result for Fiji! Bula Vanaka! Great rugby loving nation. Love their rugby. Good people with great attitude to life. Hope they draw benefits from this beyond the footy field.
concerned supporter
Guest
Have you Kiwis already won the Rugby Championships? the way you bigheads gloat eg Super Rugby etc, you would think it is a foregone conclusion. Again Taylorman & Co this is about FIJI!
taylorman
Roar Guru
Hes going to be fun during the RC. Might even learn a thing or two. ?
Jerry
Guest
Dude, he didn't even mention NZ, don't go looking for offence.
concerned supporter
Guest
This is about Fiji. Not about NZ. Please give them credit,and forget about NZ.
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Exactly Council, ~ I also know the answer to that, and it's not the Fijians!
Kirky
Roar Rookie
Worst Olympic coverage I've ever seen and I've seen a few! Channel 7 coverage is diabolical to say the least. Get Fox in collaboration with Nine to do it as the last time they did it between them it was stunning. Poor, very poor!
Council
Guest
You enjoy baiting Kiwis don't you? You should go check the 7s history, see which team has the most tournament victories then let us know who the best team in 7s history is.
PeterK
Roar Guru
very happy for fiji They have been the epitome of 7's from the beginning. Best team over history and quite apt they win the first gold. Great for fiji to also win its first ever medal at the olympics of any type for any sport.
Lion Down Under
Guest
Congratulations Fiji, excellent result. The singing afterwards was stunning. It was bloody annoying to only see snippets of the first half and 4 mins of second half in between the rubbish that is Sunrise on Ch 7. Awful broadcasting.
Lion Down Under
Guest
Yeah, it's even been semi-formalised for all sports. In the past athletes from Norn Ireland could basically choose who to represent in the Olympics. Now there's a gentleman's agreement that if their sport has an all-island of Ireland governing body then they compete for Ireland (boxing, rugby, golf etc.) and if their sport has a Northern Ireland governing body they compete for Team GB.
Wal
Roar Guru
Surely Kochie is just as exciting as watching the Fijians play sevens :)