It was a great opening ceremony to the tournament but what struck me most was the commitment shown by some prominent Australian leaders. Present and speaking were the Governor General of Australia, His Excellency General Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d) and the Governor of New South Wales, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d), and Senator Bridget McKenzie the Minister of Sport. All spoke about the power of sport and their commitment to wheelchair rugby. It was difficult not to draw a comparison between the legacy of Australia’s 2000 Paralympic Games where funding has been maintained for wheelchair rugby and our own situation which saw UK Sport funding cease just 4 years after London 2012. It was also interesting to hear all speakers at the opening paying tribute to the Aboriginal Wann-gal clan and its elders on whose lands the Olympic Park is built – such a rich heritage to be proud of.
GB’s opening game was against Poland which was the last match of the day. It was a nervous start with the height and strength of Poland’s 3.5 Mateusz Wawczak creating some difficulties for us and we lost a few balls with Jim Roberts coming to the rescue on more than one occasion. Despite this we finished Q1 on top by 12-11. Head Coach Paul Shaw changed the line up for the start of Q2 bringing on Aaron Phipps and Ryan Cowling. Aaron made an immediate impact forcing the opposition into errors with his big hits and continual harrying. The pairing of him and Jim was a formidable combination and I look forward to seeing it against the better teams. At the end of Q2 we led 27-19 and were starting to look a bit ‘tasty’! Paul Shaw changed the lines again at Q3 and Stuart Robinson replaced Aaron. There was no loss in momentum with Stuart also hitting hard and forcing errors – the quarter ended 40-23 with Poland starting to look battered and tired. Final line changes from Paul Shaw in this quarter ensured that all athletes experienced some court time and we ended the match with a win by 55-31.
The rest of the day’s results:
Australia 66 – NZ 36
Denmark 57 – Sweden 54
France 51 – Canada 42
USA 58 – Columbia 32
Japan 57 – Ireland 37
Tomorrow’s challenge will be more formidable as we take on the USA who are favourites for the title. I sat with the son of the USA Head Coach watching them play Columbia today but he wasn’t giving away any secrets!!
More tomorrow…
David Pond
