Why the Steelers escaped from Group A of wheelchair rugby

Have you guys been able to figure out why our Wheelchair Rugby team were able to make it into the semi-finals when we lost 2 out of 3 matches? Denmark (a team that beat us) is now only playing off for 7th or 8th place

-Abby

It was a very tight result in Group A of the wheelchair rugby tournament, with Australia scraping through to the semi-finals as the second team in the group behind Japan.

Australia, France and Denmark were all tied on two points after the group stage, with one win and two losses each.

The tiebreaker process for wheelchair rugby meant they eliminated the scores that involved Japan, and left the games between the three tied teams.

The Steelers lost to Denmark by one goal, 54-53, and beat France 50-48.

In the final relevant game, France beat Denmark 52-50.

This meant that on for and against, Australia ended up +1, Denmark was -1, and France was dead even — putting Ryley Batt and his team through to the last four.

As a result, the Steelers will face the US this evening at 6:30pm for a place in the gold medal game.

The above expert insight comes courtesy of the great Andrew McGarry.