Source : ABC NEWS
“One more to go.”
It may be a simple mantra, but it sums up Australia’s approach after it won the second leg of the women’s rugby sevens World Championship in Valladolid, Spain.
Australia moved to the top of the World Championship standings following its triumph, which was iced with a 27-14 defeat of the USA in the tournament final.
One leg remains before the world champion is crowned next weekend in Bordeaux, France, with Australia holding a two-point lead over New Zealand on the standings.
It was a double victory for Australia in Spain, with the men’s team defeating South Africa 26-19 in its final despite losing James Turner to a red card.
New Zealand defeated Australia 19-14 in the women’s tournament decider at the opening World Championship round, held in Hong Kong.
But the Australians exacted revenge in the Valladolid semifinals, coming back from 14-0 down to win 28-26 in a pulsating encounter.
The two teams contested each of the six tournament finals during the regular season, known as the World Series, with New Zealand winning on five occasions.
“Obviously, the job is not done,” Australia co-captain Bella Nasser told World Rugby’s broadcast.
“We’ve got next week in Bordeaux to do, so we’ll recover hard, train hard and hopefully put on a good performance next week.”
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It was coach Tim Walsh who uttered the words “one more to go” as he attempted to keep a lid on the emotions after Australia’s win in the final.
Australia was forced to cope with losing star duo Maddison Levi (knee) and Tia Hinds (calf) to injury during the tournament.
Levi was struck down during Australia’s 14-10 loss to USA during the pool stage.
Hinds sustained her injury while adding the winning points in the semifinal when she converted Kaitlin Shave’s long-range try in the final minute of play.
“It’s part of the plan to win when it matters towards the end there,” Walsh said.
“But we’ve still got one more to go, so we’ve put ourselves in a position [to win the World Championship].
“Overall with the squad, I’m just really proud of the resilience that they showed, but also the belief.
“Without Maddi Levi, without Tia Hinds, they can go out and perform and perform really well. It bodes well for the future.”
Aussies sweep trophies
Australia jumped to third in the men’s standings, eight points behind top-ranked South Africa, after arriving in Valladolid with the threat of relegation hanging over its head.
A disappointing sixth-place finish in Hong Kong meant Australia needed to go deep in the second World Championship leg to eliminate any chance of falling outside the top eight.
Only the top eight-ranked teams at the end of the World Championship qualify for the 2026-27 regular season.
Australia caused an upset with its win over South Africa in the men’s final. (Reuters: Juan Barbosa)
Australia began its campaign on Friday with a perfect record, defeating Kenya (15-10) and Great Britain (26-21) in its opening two pool matches.
The tournament was put on notice when Australia beat South Africa in its final pool encounter, 24-14.
Knock-out wins over Kenya (21-0) and Fiji (21-14) earned passage through to the final.
“We had a lot of confidence going into this game,” said Australia captain Henry Hutchison, who was named player of the final.
“If we [stick] to what we’re good at … we’re a really hard team to stop and we did that for the last two games of this tournament.”
Both Australians squad are travelling to France on Monday afternoon AEST.
