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The Australian Steelers’ place in the 2023 Asia Oceania Wheelchair Rugby Championship final looks secure, but they have still not found an answer to the one question that will make or break their plans to qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Sunday.
How do they beat Japan at this tournament in Tokyo?
Japan thumped the Steelers 57-52 on Friday night to thrill their home fans in eerily similar circumstances to their previous encounter 24 hours earlier.
In both contests, Australia started brilliantly, led at half-time, lost the lead but stayed within one goal until the fourth quarter and then capitulated in the final eight minutes as Japan played mistake-free rugby and dished out scoreboard punishment for ill-disciple and multiple unforced errors.
“For the most part, up until that final quarter, we performed pretty well. Obviously we still have things to clean up but we are staying positive and we know we have to keep working,” Australian head coach Brad Dubberley said.
“It was definitely a much better performance than it was yesterday so I was happier about that.
“But to beat a team like Japan you have to stay engaged and focused for the entire game. To give up six turnovers in that last quarter was really disappointing.”
The Steelers must now beat New Zealand, an opponent they have dominated for more than a decade, on Saturday night to secure a place in the Sunday’s gold medal match.
They also have less than 48 hours to reverse the current trend against Japan if they face them again in Tokyo when the stakes will be incredibly high.
The winner of Sunday’s final will earn direct qualification to the Paris Paralympic Games, while the runner-up’s journey to the sport’s biggest stage must detour via another qualification tournament at a date and venue still be confirmed by the governing body, World Wheelchair Rugby.
Eager to avoid that level of uncertainty, the Australian head coach said the Steelers must now count on the vast experience of their key players.
Ten members of the squad won last year’s World Championship in Denmark while captain Chris Bond and talisman Ryley Batt were both key members of Australia’s dominant reign that saw them win two Paralympic gold medals and two world championships between 2014 and 2022.
Dubberley himself is a master of coaching big games when the pressure is immense. Under his tutelage, Australian Teams have featured in every Paralympic and World Championship final since 2008, with the exception of Tokyo 2020. Over 15 years he has built one of the best coaching records in the history of the sport.
“We’ve got all the information we need here, we now just need to go out and execute,” Dubberley said.
“We know we need to switch on for the entire game and if we can, that will be huge for our chances to do what we here for, to qualify for Paris 2024.
“Games between Australia and Japan are always very close. There is never any room for complacency. Even when we are up by three goals, we’ve seen in both games against Japan here that things can change quickly and they can come back.”
But before they can fully focus on Sunday’s final, they have one more meeting with the New Zealand Wheelblacks who will be desperate to orchestrate an upset.
The Steelers won their first encounter 49-40 on Saturday. The Wheelblacks would need to win by a larger margin than nine goals to take their place in Sunday’s final, which would be their biggest win since their Paralympic gold medal winning performance in 2004.
Australia face Korea at 1:30pm on Friday before taking on New Zealand at 8pm. All matches will be livestreamed via YouTube.
The Steelers team for the Asia Oceania #WheelchairRugby Championships is set with Coach Brad Dubberley making 2 changes to the 2022 World Champion team.
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) May 12, 2023
Victory at the tournament will secure direct qualification to #Paris2024: https://t.co/c979rsUbsS#ImagineWhatWeCanDo pic.twitter.com/EWIeiIdGsm
2023 WWR ASIA OCEANIA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tokyo, Japan
Australian Steelers’ fixtures (Times are AEST)
Thursday 29 June: read our day 1 report
AUS 71 def KOR 23
JPN 53 def AUS 46
Friday 30 June
AUS 49 def NZL 40
JPN 57 def AUS 52
Saturday 1 July
13:30 – AUS vs KOR
20:00 – AUS vs NZL
Sunday 2 July
13:15 – Bronze medal match
15:15 – Gold medal match / Paris 2024 qualifier
By: Tim Mannion, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 1 July 2023
