Australia jumps ahead, then hangs on for gold over England

By ARON LEWIS
Australia dominated the final rugby match from early on, scoring a penalty kick within three minutes to take the lead, en route to a 19-16 victory and the gold medal. Britain, in turn, made a nervous start, and Australia took advantage. After 15 minutes it was 6-0 following another penalty kick. Australia, the physically dominating side, again forced the ball into Britain's half, and was rewarded with a magnificent try, followed by a clinical conversion, to make the score 13-0. Britain was awarded a penalty kick in the 36th minute, which it converted to make its first mark on the scoreboard. At the end of the first half the score was 16-3 in Australia's advantage. Britain began to make headway following the break, pushing the score to 16-9. However, the Britons failed to make their chances count and could not score a much needed try. In the dying minutes of the game, Britain's persistence paid off, as a try and the converted kick brought the score to 19-16. However, it wasn't to be for Great Britain as the match ended without further score. "I still can't believe we won," Ben Selwyn of Australia said after the game. "In the last three minutes, with Britain only two points behind us. nerves started to kick in." Mark Pettrit of Great Britain told The Jerusalem Post he was extremely disappointed to have lost. "We had a terrible start," he said. "Australia beat us at our own game. At the beginning, going down 16 points was too much to catch."