Rugby team wins gold medal

DANIEL GARB IN HERZILYA

AUSTRALIA’S Open Rugby team has defeated Great Britain 19-16 in a thrilling gold medal match to end its Maccabiah Games campaign on the highest note.

The achievement will go down as one of the more memorable in Australia’s Maccabiah history.¬†This is the first time Australia has won gold in rugby and the first time it has played in a final since 1985.

At the final whistle hundreds of passionate supporters joined the players in celebrating the win with a loud rendition of Advance Australia Fair.

Perceived as outsiders going into the tournament behind the Brits and South Africa, the 26-strong Australian squad galvanised from the moment they landed in Israel.

Captain Alex Lehrer, who led his team brilliantly, says the win was four years in the making.

“I remember sitting in the change rooms after beating Canada in the 5th-6th playoff at the last Maccabiah and thinking something needs to change if we wanted to turn things around,” he said.

“So we reformed the Maccabi Rugby Club that has improved every year and we trained incredibly hard.”

Lehrer says it was that support of one another that was the crucial difference between them and the other nations.

“The camararderie was the main factor. We were an incredibly close group of boys, but its also how hard we’ve trained. Our heart got us over the line. It’s really unbelievable, I honestly never thought we’d get here.”

Fly-half Steve Cohen, who scored the crucial try of the match and kicking accurately under enormous pressure, says having their pool draw changed to the group of death only weeks before the games also had a huge impact on the teams success.

“Our attitude was that if you want to be the best you have to beat the best, and we did,” he said.

The early stages of the match were very cagey as the Aussies tried to get their running game going which had served them so well in the wins over Israel and South Africa. But while the Brits were nullifying the backline’s dash, they were giving up too many penalties in dangerous territory.

With his confidence sky high after a superb kicking display against Israel, Cohen landed two shots at goal early to give Australia a 6-0 lead. Not content with merely kicking his side ahead, Cohen then gave Australia the early initiative in the contest with some quick thinking.

The Sydneysider was first to react to a loose ball from a scrum near the British line, pouncing the opening try which he duly converted to give Australia a 13-0 buffer.

Up against an experienced British front row, the Aussie pack was remarkable in the first half, driving on the scrum to help their side win control of the ball as the half wore on. Both sides landed penalties as the first period drew to a close with the Australians going in with a 16-3 lead.

Tensions boiled over in the second half with a melee breaking out as the Brits tried to use aggression to get themselves back into the contest.

A drop goal and a penalty then had Great Britain within a converted try from drawing level and Australia needed to alter the momentum of the match to avoid being overrun.

Jarred Shein was the man to win a penalty when Australia was up against it after being held attempting a chip and charge. Cohen stood up to once again convert the chance and give the Aussies back a 12-point break.

The Brits continued to pressure the Aussie defence which refused to tire in their pursuit of gold.

Lehrer made a desperate tackle on the British flyhalf who had broken free and had a winger out wide with a free run to the tryline, preventing a certain 5-pointer to inch Australia closer to the win.

The pressure eventually told though and Great Britian were able to get over the line with two minutes to go for a try that was converted, ensuring it would be an excrutiating wait for the final whistle. But when Cohen took the ball from under his heroic forward pack and heaved it high into the stands, the feeling of anxiety was quickly transformed into jubilation for players and fans.