Dubai: Australia coach Geraint John warned the Wallabies not to get complacent after having surpassed expectations to reach their first-ever Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens final here on Saturday.
The Wallabies lost 33-7 to South Africa, but John was nevertheless satisfied to reach the final against all odds having edged defending champions Fiji 29-24 in the semi-finals.
Australia had earlier beaten Scotland 22-17 in the quarter-finals, after having topped their group with wins over Kenya 29-12, USA 26-10 and England 12-5.
The top four teams from this season’s nine-stage Sevens World Series qualify for rugby’s Olympic debut in 2016 and with that in mind, teams need to be in the mix at every tournament.
Australia finished seventh in round one of the series at home in the Gold Coast Sevens in October, and are now third in the overall series standings after this second-place finish in Dubai. John wants his side to maintain that charge in round three of the series in Port Elizabeth this weekend. “I’m happy with how the weekend has gone,” said John. “Obviously when you get into a final you want to perform and you want it to be a little closer than that, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“We’ve just got to make sure this is not a one-off. Samoa made the final of the Gold Coast but didn’t make top-eight here. We just have to go to Port Elizabeth and continue on the road we are on and do things right over the next 48 hours to prepare for next weekend.”
On their improved position in the standings, he added: “It’s nice to be up there, but we have to maintain that. Now we’ve got a job to do in Port Elizabeth, and this can’t be a one-off, we need a little bit more consistency, that’s our goal and we are going to prepare for that.”
South Africa took advantage after Australia’s Pama Fou had been sin-binned for a dangerous tackle, but Fou redeemed himself to level the scores 7-7 at the interval. Australia were then held up for a try early in the second half before a double from Seabelo Senatla and another from Ruhan Nel confirmed the Blitzbokke’s fourth win in Dubai and their first title since 2008.
“Overall, they were a very well-structured and disciplined side,” said John, who didn’t blame Fou’s sin-binning or Australia’s held-up try on the line for the defeat. “Anyone who knows Pama knows that’s not in his character. He came back on and got a try. It was an unfortunate incident, but I don’t think it affected the game.
“I was happy to go in level at the break. We just wanted to start well in the second half and, you never know, if we had scored that try in the area when they held us up over the line, things could have been different.
“We came second-best in that final, but to have got in that final is really pleasing and now we’ve got to make sure we go one better next week, that’s our goal.”
