London, July 27, (PA Media/dpa/GNA) – Britain’s men reached the Olympic sevens semi-finals following an extraordinary fightback against the United States on Tuesday.
Britain looked down and out after losing captain Tom Mitchell to injury in the first minute and then falling 21 points behind.
But they summoned remarkable recovery powers to stun their opponents 26-21, scoring four unanswered tries at Tokyo Stadium, and they now face New Zealand in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Fiji, champions in 2016, are in the other semi against Argentina, who also won an epic quarter-final against South Africa 19-14 despite finishing with five players. Fiji crushed Australia 19-0.
Ollie Lindsay-Hague, Ben Harris, Alex Davis and Dan Norton claimed touchdowns, while Dan Bibby kicked three conversions for Britain to keep the Rio Games silver medallists remain on course for another tilt at gold.
Reflecting on the comeback win, Britain’s Robbie Fergusson said: “We spoke a lot as a group about what this means to us, what boys are doing after this, what everyone is about.
“So we know there is the collective will and desire to do well here. When our backs are against the wall, we seem to be at our best.”
Bibby added: “We knew that if we kept in it, kept working it, those last couple of minutes would be the most important. I think we showed that.
“We ground it out, stuck at it and the experience of the squad really showed those last few minutes.
“We were 21-0 down and the gold medal was flashing before your eyes in those moments. But it was in those moments where we looked round at each other, and all gave that confident nod.”
Argentina’s Gaston Revol was sent off early and his side fell 7-0 behind to South Africa before turning things round to lead 19-7.
An injury and late yellow card for Argentina left them with an uphill task but they held on despite late pressure amid an emotional finale.
GNA