Walsh far from pleased after \"ordinary\" win against Fiji

Sat, Apr 14, 2018, 1:40 PM
Sam Phillips
by Sam Phillips
It was far from perfect but the Aussie Women have downed Fiji to top their pool and book a semi final date with Canada at the Commonwealth Games tomorrow. Hear from Tim Walsh after their third pool match.

Australian Women's Sevens coach Tim Walsh has slammed his side's "ordinary" win against Fiji, demanding they lift ahead of their push for gold on finals day.

A pair of Charlotte Caslick tries dragged the Australians to a 17-10 win but it was far from the breathtaking rugby which Walsh expects from his side.

The ball handling was poor, passing imprecise and tackling inaccurate, three factors Walsh highlighted post match.

"We were just giving the ball to players in a worse position, defensively we were not up to it and if we play like that tomorrow, we're not going to be on the podium," Walsh said.

"But the positive thing is that we won and that we ground it out.


"We were indecisive and we have to be more clinical.

"When you feel pressure you tighten up and then you add a bit of slipperiness to it and you start to second guess.

"It looked a little bit like that and I think that's something we can learn from today."

Walsh rejected any suggestion that the pressure was getting to his side, urging them to get back to basics.

"The girls have always been embracing pressure and you play the game to be in situations like this," he said.The Australian brains trust are asking for an improved performance on Sunday. Photo: RUGBY.com.au/Stuart Walmsley"It's just about taking a deep breath and putting it back to basics.

"There are seven people on a rugby field against another seven, playing a game that they love.

"That's the way we want to approach it and hopefully our performance will show (that)."

All eyes now turn to a semi final showdown with Canada.

"Canada are very physical, they've scored some great tries and they've got some dangerous players," Walsh said.

"We've done some analysis on them, we've always had some pretty fierce battles but we will concentrate on the way we play and our job.

"If we can rub out those indecisive moves and pick our defence up, everything will be okay."

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