Corey Toole has already done the Riverina proud early in Olympic competition. Photo: Brumbies.
Born in Forbes but raised In Wagga, Corey Toole has done the Riverina proud this week after securing a spot in the rugby sevens medal match overnight.
Corey and the Australian men’s rugby sevens team breezed through their group stage matches against Samoa and Kenya on Wednesday night (AEST) before coming up against a higher-ranked Argentinian outfit on Thursday night (25 July).
Despite conceding the first try of the match, the Aussies went on to score the next three of the match, giving the green and gold a desired 15-7 lead two minutes into the second half. Argentina reduced the lead to a single point with only two minutes left to play before captain Nick Malouf stole a try in the last minute of play, giving the Aussies a 22-15 victory to top their group.
Although the Aussies recorded an impressive win against the Argentinians, it was the quarterfinal against the USA where Corey Toole took his opportunity.
Those who got up early to watch the Aussies play wouldn’t have been disappointed as they recorded an 18-0 victory over the Americans.
Among the try scorers was the local boy, who scored the second try of the match and gave Australia a 10-nil lead. Toole had the chance to score his second of the game halfway through the second half but unfortunately, his boot found the sideline when diving for the try.
The victory in the quarterfinal means that Australians are guaranteed a shot at a medal. The Aussies will come up against the reigning Olympic champions Fiji at 12 am on Sunday 28 July. If the Australians can defeat the strong Fijian side, they will advance to the gold medal match at 3:45 am against the winners of the South Africa/France clash, where they will be guaranteed a gold or silver medal.
Should Australia lose to Fiji, they will come up against the loser of the South Africa/France game in the bronze medal match at 3 am Sunday 28 July.
Following the win against the USA, Corey Toole said he and the team hadn’t quite put together their best performance but were looking forward to the challenge that Fiji would bring.
“It’s so special to represent not only myself by my family back home,” he said.
“It’s amazing and hopefully we can do them proud in the semis. We’re just taking it one game at a time; we’re not looking too far ahead. We’ll review tonight and then tomorrow we’ll have a game plan against Fiji and hopefully, we can perform the best we can.”
The men’s rugby sevens event is one of the first opportunities for Australia to secure a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Should the Australian side secure a medal, it will be the first-ever men’s rugby sevens Olympic medal.
Despite starting two days early, no medals will be handed out prior to the opening ceremony, which will begin at 3 am AEST on Saturday 27 July.
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