Golden rugby sevens performance from Goulding

RUGBY SEVENS: A recent switch from touch football to rugby sevens has proved to be a golden decision for Sunshine Coast's Rebecca Goulding.

WINNER: Rebecca Goulding won a gold medal with the Australian rugby sevens side at the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas. Picture: Mark Kolbe

RUGBY SEVENS: A recent switch from touch football to rugby sevens has proved to be a golden decision for Sunshine Coast's Rebecca Goulding.

The 18-year-old competed at the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas as part of the Australian rugby sevens side.

Despite being a relative newcomer to the sport, Goulding proved an instrumental addition to the side's campaign, which went through the competition undefeated to face Canada in the final.

Australia continued its dominance to blitz Canada 31-5 to claim the gold medal.

Goulding pulled off one of the biggest plays of the match when a Canadian attacker found space nearing half-time but the young Queenslander herded her into touch with a try-saving tackle.

The University of the Sunshine Coast student has only been playing rugby sevens for the past six months, but has come a long way.

Goulding relished the change of format and believed it was growing in popularity on the Coast.

"People are really friendly, the girls are lovely and the coaches are really nice," she told the Daily in June.

"I wasn't really used to the contact side of it but I do really like the contact side now.

"I think after the Aussie women's (team) won gold at the Olympics, it's gone even more towards being a girls' thing."

TOM THREADINGHAM