Australian sides into Singapore semi finals after extra time thriller

Sat, May 4, 2024, 11:07 PM
Nathan Williamson
by Nathan Williamson
A clutch finish from Nick Malouf wins it in extra-time of the SVNS Singapore quarter-final

The Australian sides will again battle for medals as they fought their way into the semi-finals.

The Men did it the hard way, needing extra time to defeat South Africa 29-24 after surviving an almighty comeback.

Watch every round of the HSBC SVNS Series exclusive, ad-free and live on Stan Sport. 

John Manenti's side were down Teddy Wilson (concussion), Henry Paterson (back) and James Turner (partner in labour) but started fast to take a 19-point lead.

However, the South Africans refused to give up and mounted an extraordinary comeback.

They scored twice in two minutes before levelling the scores with 30 seconds to go to send the game into extra time. 

As both teams struggled to take their chances, a yellow card to Blitzboks star Shilton van Wyk opened the door for John Manenti's side, working a great set play for captain Nick Malouf to slam the ball down

“We’ve got a pretty special group so it’s not too hard to get motivated," Malouf said. “South Africa came back well and put us under a lot of pressure in the second half.

“We lost a few too many restarts at the start of the game (against New Zealand earlier in the day) so hopefully we tidy it up and who knows what could happen (in the Semi-Final).”

They will face New Zealand in the semi-finals, who defeated them 26-10 in the group stages.

As for the Women, they have dominated the weekend to sail into the final four against France.

They produced a 60-0 thumping of Fiji, the third largest victory in world series history.

Maddison Levi got a hat-trick with Faith Nathan scoring a double and two penalty tries leading to the blow out win.

This was followed by a 24-12 win over Ireland, where the Aussies scored four unanswered tries to take the game away from the Irish.

Maddison Levi continued to extend their lead on the top of the try scoring table with another five pointer in the opening minutes.

Not to be undone, Faith Nathan finished in the corner as the Aussies took a 12-0 lead into half-time.

Madison Ashby added to the lead after the break, with Teagan Levi putting the game out of reach midway through the second half.

“It’s been good, we’re just working to our strengths and everyone is doing their role," the younger Levi said. “It definitely hurt to get beat by Ireland (in Perth in January) so everyone wanted to get some revenge back.

“A few discipline things have happened in previous tournaments but we’ve been working really hard at training and it shows. Our defence has been awesome.”

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