Come on lads.... Great Britain are half a length down. Romania are coming through....

James Cracknell
Double Olympic Rowing gold medallist on BBC TV

If the British can get overlap they can start to challenge. I think the Aussies went out too hard and are starting to spin.

Sholto Carnegie, Oliver Cook, Rory Gibbs and Matthew Rossiter need to empty the tank. They are up to second.

James Cracknell
Double Olympic Rowing gold medallist on BBC TV

The Australians have taken it on and the British are having serious steering problems.

Australia have blasted out. They are really putting the hammer down. Romania are in second... Great Britain are fourth.

Here come Sholto Carnegie, Oliver Cook, Rory Gibbs and Matthew Rossiter.

This is meant to be all about Team GB and Australia. We shall see.

It' s the first time since 2004 that no member of the previous gold-winning GB crew has returned to help defend the title.

All four members of the 2021 crew are Olympic debutants.

GB are up and running in their Pool A match against India.

The defending Olympic champions are wasting no time at the Oi Hockey Stadium and have taken an early lead thanks to a Hannah Martin goal.

Graeme Thomas and John Collins talking to BBC Sport:

GT: "We didn't make the impact we needed to make. I don't want to make excuses. It was tricky on this side of the lake. Fourth is just an awful place to come."

JC: Obviously pretty gutted. I thought if we could get it really right we could finish on top. A medal would be a doable thing. The water was very tricky. In one respect it was one position in Rio.

"At least we put up a fight for a medal this time, I don't know what we could have done better."

Time for a bit of reaction from the men's double sculls earlier for Graeme Thomas and John Collins. Gutted is an understatement.....

Garry Herbert
Olympic gold medal winning cox on BBC TV

It's been a dream ride for the Irish crew - it's the strongest Irish team in the history of the games and history was made.

Sensational result for them.

Garry Herbert
Olympic gold medal winning cox on BBC TV

The Irish stepped on and maintained it- it will be hugely disappointing for the British.

Image source, BBC One

Great Britain are edged out by Ireland. Rowan McKellar, Harriet Taylor, Karen Bennett and Rebecca Shorten look exhausted.

No surprises on the top two places to be honest. The Australians are the world champions and the Netherlands were the European Champions in 2020 and 2021.

James Cracknell
Double Olympic Rowing gold medallist on BBC TV

This is a three way battle for one medal between the Irish, GB and China

Rowan McKellar, Harriet Taylor, Karen Bennett and Rebecca Shorten are going to have to dig deep here.

Garry Herbert
Olympic gold medal winning cox on BBC TV

Great Britain continue to be in the bronze medla position at the half way mark.

Australia are leading this out....followed by the Netherlands crew, with the British four a length and a half back.

James Cracknell
Double Olympic Rowing gold medallist on BBC TV

The Irish were very quick in the heats so the British need to stay with the Irish, and right now they are in the perfect position.

Karen Bennett, won silver with the eight in Rio. Can she go one better this time?

Bennett didn’t take up rowing until she was 18 – she saw an appeal on the news by Sir Steve Redgrave for tall athletes to try it out so she went to a test event in Newcastle.

She lives with partner John Collins, who has just raced in the final of the men’s double sculls.

Rowan McKellar, Harriet Taylor, Karen Bennett & Rebecca Shorten incoming in the final of the women's four.

GB won silver at World Cup II in Lucerne, an impressive result given they were using a sub, Caragh McMurtry, to replace Bennett.

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