THE Australian men's sevens team has qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games having defeated Samoa 19-12 in the Olympic final of the Oceania Sevens Championship in Suva Fiji on Saturday.
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Australia, playing without the injured Tom Connor (hamstring) from Berry, came back from a 12-nil deficit to score three unanswered tries, including a charge-down try by captain Lewis Holland to defeat Samoa in wet conditions in the Fijian capital.
The win ensured Australia will join the other teams already qualified for the Games in Tokyo next year.
The Aussie men then went on to defeat Fiji in a thrilling final, taking out the overall championship 22-7 and ensuring both Australian teams went undefeated at this year's Oceania Sevens Championship.
Earlier in the evening, the Australian women's sevens defeated Fiji to win the overall Oceania Women Sevens Championship and ensure they went back-to-back in defending their title accounting for Fiji 24-12.
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The Aussie women went through the tournament undefeated which included accounting for New Zealand, Canada and Japan in an invitational arm of the tournament, having already ensured qualification through the HSBC Sevens World Series.
"We're ecstatic, there was a lot of pressure over the last three months on this one game (Samoa)," Australian men's sevens coach Tim Walsh said.
"Preparation breeds confidence and you make your own luck.
"Lewis Holland had a captain's knock today and that was the difference.
"I'm proud of the whole program - the boys that didn't play, the boys that are over here and didn't play.
"Finding a way to win is probably the most pleasing thing out of this whole event."
The next round of the HSBC Sevens World Series sees teams head to Dubai - a tournament Connor has his sights set on as a potential return to the green and gold.
The two Aussie teams will be in action on home soil at the HSBC Sydney Sevens on February 1 and 2.