Join AUS Squad
Back To News
The Australian Steelers face a must-win battle against France in a packed Parisian stadium if they are to fight for a Paralympic wheelchair rugby medal in Paris.
The Steelers have no second chances if they are to progress out of Pool B after they were defeated 58-55 by reigning Paralympic champions Great Britain on Thursday to open the Paris 2024 competition.
With the eight-team draw split into two pools, the opening loss for the Steelers sets up an epic showdown on Friday against the host nation, ranked sixth in the world.
Arena Champs de Mars will be heaving with home crowd support and the match will be shown in primetime for a French viewing audience.
Despite the pressure, Australian captain Chris Bond believes his team is well-placed to manage it effectively.
“We’ve done this before at major competitions where we have lost the first game and went on to win,” Bond said.
“We just have to keep our heads up. I’m feeling really energised now because we have to win. The nerves are gone, we just have to go flat out and get the French now.
“In your career, you dream of playing in front of crowds like this. It’s going to be bloody loud and they’re going to be going for France, we know that, but we’re just going to try and relish this crowd.”
Neither team conceded a turnover in the first quarter, but the Australians faltered first nearing half-time. Great Britain converted the error into a goal and then protected their lead until 1:40 in the final quarter.
With Bond and powerhouse Ryley Batt rallying, the Australians finally found a way to level the scores and then forced a mistake from Great Britain which gave back possession via an inbound pass.
It proved to be the defining moment.
Bond’s pass from the sideline missed its target and possession fell back to the Britons who promptly scored. When Batt and James McQuillan combined to fumble the ball on Australia’s next attacking raid without scoring, Great Britain locked down the ball in the final 40 seconds.
“GB came out strong as we expected,” Bond said. “They’re the reigning Paralympic gold medallists from Tokyo for a reason. It was pretty even for most of the game. There were a couple of turnovers that got us down but we kept fighting.
“That’s what Australians do, we stick it right to the end and we almost turned it over. But we made some crucial errors at the wrong time and that’s sport sometimes.”
Australia plays France at 7:30pm on Friday (3:30am Saturday AEST) before their final Pool B clash again Denmark at 1.30pm on Saturday (9.30pm Saturday AEST).
Watch the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on the 9Network and 9Now live and free, and on Stan Sport from August 28 to September 8.
By: Tim Mannion, Paralympics Australia
Published: 29 August 2024
