Revenge is a dish best served while knocking somebody sideways, and the USA earned retribution for defeat in Tokyo by denying Great Britain progress to the wheelchair rugby final with a performance of no little style but maximum aggression.
Three years ago the British side made history by beating the team who made murderball what it is and to claim Paralympic gold in Japan. In Paris, Uncle Sam struck back. A blitz of blocking, pressing and crashing in the second quarter of this semi-final did the damage, with Britain ceding possession and valuable points. In the end it was not even close and the USA ran out winners by a seven-try margin, 50 to 43.
It was always going to be an ask to expect Britain to retain the title; they had never finished higher than fourth in the Paralympic finals before Tokyo and have never won a world championship. Beating the current world champions, Australia, in the group stages was a significant enough result, and they will face them again in the bronze‑medal match while the USA go on to face Japan.
“We talked about it in the planning meeting before, we even made a statement about how intense they were going to be,” said a clearly devastated Stuart Robinson, Britain’s linchpin. “We kind of knew it, but we just didn’t bring our A game. We suffered a little bit. We made a few errors. Stuff that we know we’re more than capable of correcting.
“Most of the time you’ve just got to absorb their intensity. You’ve got to take it all in and know that they can’t play that intensively for the whole game. Unfortunately, they did a pretty good job of bringing the heat and then backing off a little bit and then having those reserves in the tank to come back and do it again.”
The contest resumed old rivalries, the most important being between Robinson and America’s Chuck Aoki, the two players who make their teams tick and combine awareness with skill and cunning. Robinson bested Aoki in Tokyo, but the roles were reversed in the Champs‑de‑Mars Arena, with Aoki scoring 18 of his side’s points to Robinson’s 15. The latter’s seemingly telepathic relationship with Aaron Phipps juddered here, with Phipps giving up the first two turnovers that sent a signal for the rest of the match. Aoki, meanwhile, could rely on his long-standing partner Chris Wheeler, the running back to his quarterback, with Wheeler scoring 14 times and at crucial junctures (Phipps made only seven tries).
The USA had the motivation, Great Britain were perhaps a bit tired after three close-fought matches to get to this point. But the USA also had a secret weapon, the sole female player on the court, Sarah Adam. She became the third prong to Aoki and Wheeler’s model of attack, finding space with apparent effortlessness but contributing as much brute force as any of her male peers. Adam uses a wheelchair to aid her multiple sclerosis, but played wheelchair rugby even before her diagnosis. She is a natural.
It is a quick turnaround for Great Britain now, with the bronze-medal match at lunchtime on Monday, the fifth day of match play in a row for this team. “Yeah, I think so,” Robinson said when asked if he would be able to shake off the disappointment in time. “It’s something that’s hurting now, but I think that by the time I leave this building I’ll be over it. It’s going to hurt unless you come away with another gold medal, no matter what happens.”
