Women’s Rugby 7’s AUS vs NZ Trial Games

On Friday the 20th of October I journeyed 2 and a half hours down to Bendigo to watch out national women's rugby 7's team the Aussie Pearls play in a series of trial games against the New Zealand Black Ferns.

I've been following this team since their groundbreaking gold medal win at the 2016 Rio Olympic games and have been inspired by them ever since.

The day before the team got up against the Kiwis with Dom Du Toit and Cassie Staples running in tries for a 14-12 win. Sadly once I arrived the girls didn't have another win with the team losing the other 4 games of the series. But winning wasn't what I came to Bendigo for, I came to watch the best 2 teams in women's 7's play and it was such a treat to see the likes of Portia Woodman laying down bone crushing tackles and Sharni Williams rucking the ball up the field with all her might. The quality of football on display was top notch.

New Zealand have been so dominant since losing to Australia in the gold medal match. I feel as though they have well and truly figured out the Aussie's game plan because unfortunately the Pearls have been completely dominated since their Olympic glory. A lot of this could be attributed to having a large number of key injuries plaguing the team at the moment with starters such as Ellia Green, Emma Tonegato, Shannon Parry and Emilee Cherry all out for long periods of time. That being said I think it's time for Australia to re-evaluate their game plan and try something new, perhaps look more closely at how New Zealand are doing things. Through watching both teams during these trial games it became pretty clear to me that the Black Ferns had much more intent and seemed much more focused than the Aussies. They appeared more switched on which then translated over into the game and I feel that this is something that the Aussie girls need to work on.

During the 2 days on competition that I attended I had the opportunity to meet and have a chat with Charlotte Caslick who was being rested until the 3rd day of competition. Caslick is arguably one of the best players playing the game of 7's and who also happens to be my favourite player so it was really rad to hear about what she thought about the games that had been played along with what's on the horizon for the team in the near future.

It warms my heart so much to see how much of an effect these elite female athletes are having on young girls. When I look at the interactions they have and the sheer amount of young girls that were at the event to watch the international friendlies makes me feel like there is a bright future for female participation in the sport.

It was a fantastic weekend away and my hope is that more trial games and proper competitions such as this are brought to Melbourne in the future!!

#Sport #Rugby7s