BREAKING NEWS> Irish star’s Olympic dream ended by a contentious attempt from Fiji, leaving him “speechless”
BREAKING NEWS> Irish star’s Olympic dream ended by a contentious attempt from Fiji, leaving him “speechless”
On Thursday night, Ireland’s Olympic Rugby Sevens campaign came to an end when Fiji pulled off an incredible 19–12 comeback to advance to the semi-finals.
Ireland was one of the favorites to win gold in Paris 2024, especially after defeating South Africa, Japan, and New Zealand in the group stages to get to the quarterfinals.
Disputed try secures Fiji’s place in the semifinals
Ireland rallied after falling behind 7-0 early in the last-eight match, taking a 15-7 lead with to tries from Chay Mullins and Zac Ward.
Fiji, the reigning gold medalists, responded with two rapid tries to take the lead, albeit the referee missed a knock-on by Fiji at the restart, therefore there was much disagreement over the winning try.
In the shortened version of the game, the TMO in sevens can only assess situations in which a player is in the process of scoring; they are not allowed to step in and call a try.
Speaking following the game, Ireland’s star Mullins expressed his understandable disappointment at losing to Fiji in the quarterfinals and thought that Fiji was undoubtedly a wake-up call.
“In the end, it’s the referee’s call,” he acknowledged.
“Really, that’s the game. We thought it was a knock-on on the field, but the referee saw it differently.
It is quite disheartening. Really, those are the only two words that come to mind. unable to speak. It goes without saying that our goal was to get to the quarterfinals, and we believed we had them and were the superior team for the most of the match. Once more, just choices and very minor deviations
