Emma Uren: Great Britain must learn from Olympic setback
EMMA Uren has called on her GB Sevens team-mates to learn from a groundbreaking Olympic campaign after they finished seventh at Paris 2024.
The GB women finished on a high, beating Ireland for the second time in the tournament, but had earlier seen their medal hopes ended by a quarter-final defeat to eventual bronze medallists the USA.
Having brought in Red Roses stars Ellie Kildunne and Meg Jones, with the latter previously a stalwart of the sevens set-up, GB were hoping to turn their status as dark horses into an unlikely medal.
But despite a promising start with victory over Ireland in their first pool game, they paid the price for a poor second half against the Americans, going down 17-7, having led at the break.
Women's rugby
It was a devastating defeat for the team, but skipper Uren was keen to look at the positives of a tournament where the Stade de France had been packed out for all three days of competition.
66,000 were in attendance on day one to break the record for a women's rugby event set in the 2023 Six Nations Grand Slam decider at Twickenham.
Uren said: “It was something I never thought I would experience. I have been in sevens for six years and that is the biggest crowd I've ever played in front of.
“It's a world record crowd for women's rugby. I think it's special and we have to remember we are making history. Okay, the result didn't go our way but hopefully we are inspiring young girls that we can perform at this level, we can have a job out of it.”
Promising campaign
Great Britain had kicked off their campaign with a 21-12 win over Ireland, SVNS World Series tournament winners in Australia this season.
They could not back that up against Australia, as Maddison Levi ran in a hat-trick in a 36-5 victory.
But two tries from Jasmine Joyce earned a 26-17 win over South Africa to claim second spot in the group.
That set up a quarter-final against the USA, which GB started in the best possible manner.
Ellie Boatman crossed after just two minutes, and despite Naya Tapper making it 7-5, GB still led at the break thanks to a stunning tackle by Joyce on viral sensation Ilona Maher before half-time.
A disastrous start to the second half proved costly however, with Kristi Kirshe scoring virtually from the restart, and the Americans made the game safe through Sammy Sullivan.
That loss clearly devastated the players and they went on to lose a first placement game to China before beating Ireland 28-12 for seventh.
Uren added: “Elite sport is brutal and even more so sevens. You never know what side you are going to come out on.
“We are proud that we threw a punch against USA; we showed bits of our game that I don't think we've shown in the last three games, but this is elite sport and it's brutal at the top. If you make one mistake, the other capitalises on it.”
Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics.
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