Australian men’s Sevens coach Tim Walsh has offered no excuses after his side suffered a shock loss to France in their World Cup Sevens opener.
The brutal knockout format means they’re out of contention for the top prize and in Walsh’s eyes, the Australians were simply not good enough in San Francisco.
“Everyone is hurting immensely but you can’t win games when you’re letting through that many breaks and missed tackles,” he said post match.
“Even at the end there we have control of the ball and we turn it over.
“You can walk off the field and be proud with the way you play but I know the boys will be disappointed because that wasn’t our best and there were errors there which cost us.
“That’s the nature of the game.”
The Australian attack is fine - creating opportunities aplenty and making the most of those chances.
The achilles heel is, without question, defence.
The tries France scored were largely soft in nature, too many missed tackles and slow cover defence the most glaring deficiencies.
“It doesn’t say much for the defence of both teams,” Walsh said.
“The attack from both teams was good as well and now you have one of the most electrifying players there in Moz who created the tries.
“But if you’re going to get stepped on the inside and show them space good teams are going to take it.
“That’s clearly where we let ourselves down.”
There were shattered faced aplenty among the Australians as they trudged off AT&T Park.
They’ll have to wait four years to contest another World Cup and it was over in a blink of an eye - Maurice Longbottom stripped as he attempted to save the game with the final play of the match.
“It sucks, it’s horrendous,” Walsh said.
“You work so hard and you want to go out there and perform for your family, your friends and your country.
“And they do - they gave it everything - but we didn’t get the result and that’s what we’re about.”
It’s the third straight tournament in which Australia have fallen well short of expectations after claiming a silver medal in Singapore - Walsh’s first tournament charge.
Despite the disappointment Walsh insists they’ll bounce back on Sunday (AEST), having been relegated to the Challenge Trophy contest.
“We need to do everything right, be professionals and come back out tomorrow and play,” he said.
“We’ll keep building.”
