The solid captaincy of Wandsworth’s Tom Mitchell carried Team GB to the maiden men’s rugby sevens final in Rio — but it wasn’t enough to secure a gold.
Team GB may have bagged themselves a silver medal but it was the Fijian team who stole the show — earning the Pacific island nation their first Olympic medal.
After an excellent defensive performance against South Africa in the semi final, Mitchell’s squad were stunned 43-7 by an imperious Fiji.
Both teams entered the final undefeated, but Fiji’s agility and fluid style of play was too much for GB’s fledgling side.
After the whistle blew, the world number ones broke down into tears and sang their national anthem and Team GB, though disappointed, took heart at their achievement.
Britain’s semi final against South Africa was a cagy affair, with only two tries scored and the victory decided by a conversion.
In the final, Fiji took an early lead in the first minute with a try from Kolinisau.
Five minutes into the first half, Fiji scored a second, not allowing the ball to go to ground and keeping the momentum of their attack.
This was followed by three more tries, one after a fumbled catch on the restart by Dan Norton, leaving Fiji 29-0 up at half time.
The big pacific islanders were held off for the first minutes of the second half by some tenacious defence from GB.
Last-ditch tackles by Norton and Welshman James Davies prevented the margin from being widened.
A series of ad hoc offloads eventually broke through the GB line and a converted try left Britain trailing by 36 points.
When Norton’s try in the 16th minute came from a quick penalty and a brilliant overlapping run, it was merely a consolation.
A seventh try in the final minute of the match demonstrated Fiji’s dominance and added the final touch to a champions’ performance.
After the medal ceremony, the GB squad took to the pitch for an impromptu selfie to celebrate their achievement.
What a #selfie! Congrats lads!#BringOnTheGreat #Silver #Rio2016 #Rugby7s pic.twitter.com/u0U4i6u3FR
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 11, 2016
Further cause for celebration came when Putney’s Dan Bibby was named alongside Davies in the team of the tournament, which also had three Fijian players.
💪Your #Rugby7s dream team….#Olympics pic.twitter.com/XD1dPyG3Bl
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) August 11, 2016
South Africa took the bronze medal in an earlier match with a 54-14 victory against Japan.
