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Australia’s world championship winning wheelchair rugby team has been given a reality check on the opening day of the 2023 Asia Oceania Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
With direct qualification to the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on offer to the winner of the four-team tournament, it was Japan that emerged undefeated from their first two matches on Thursday, not the reigning world champions.
While the Australians did breeze past South Korea 71-23 to open their campaign on Thursday morning, they delivered an ugly, mistake-riddled second half performance on Thursday evening against Japan before going down 53-46.
It brought an anti-climactic end to what was looming as another classic showdown between the two fierce rivals when the scores were locked 36-all at three-quarter time.
Japan were simply too classy in front of their home fans and did not concede a single turnover in the second half while the Australians relinquished possession eight times – six in the final quarter – to squander their hopes. It was a stark statistic not lost on Australian head coach Brad Dubberley.
“When you give up eight turnovers in the second half, it’s almost impossible to beat a team of Japan’s calibre,” Dubberley said.
“We were in a commanding position and even though I thought we weren’t getting too far ahead of ourselves, we were in control of that game, big time.
“I don’t actually think Japan put too much extra pressure on us, although it was obvious that they corrected a few things. I just think it was our own unforced errors that cost us.
“There were loose balls and loose passes and it wasn’t just some of the newer players, it was some of our more experienced line-ups that coughed up the ball and made simple mistakes that let Japan back in.”
With all four teams each playing two matches on Friday and Saturday, the top two qualifiers will get the chance to play for the Paris 2024 ticket on Sunday. The Australians are in prime position to earn one of those places, but Friday’s game against New Zealand will be their next big test.
The WheelBlacks have a one-win, one-loss record after also facing Japan and South Korea on day one, although Australia sits ahead on goal difference.
“No doubt spending more time together here and working through these issues we identified today over the next couple of days will naturally help us,” Dubberley said.
“But I also think we can be a lot sharply mentally – not just as players but as coaches too.”
Australia face New Zealand at 1:30pm on Friday before taking on Japan at 8pm. All matches will be livestreamed via YouTube.
The Steelers team for the Asia Oceania #WheelchairRugby Championships is set with Coach Brad Dubberley making 2 changes to the 2022 World Champion team.
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) May 12, 2023
Victory at the tournament will secure direct qualification to #Paris2024: https://t.co/c979rsUbsS#ImagineWhatWeCanDo pic.twitter.com/EWIeiIdGsm
2023 WWR Asia Oceania Championships
Tokyo, Japan
Australian Steelers’ fixtures (Times are AEST)
Thursday 29 June
AUS 71 def KOR 23
JPN 53 def AUS 46
Friday 30 June
13:30 – AUS vs NZL
20:00 – AUS vs JPN
Saturday 1 July
13:30 – AUS vs KOR
20:00 – AUS vs NZL
Sunday 2 July
13:15 – Bronze medal match
15:15 – Gold medal match / Paris 2024 qualifier
By: Tim Mannion, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 30 June 2023
Image: Yuuri Tanimoto
