Australia women’s rugby sevens win opening round in Dubai

Reminding everyone of what could have been at the Olympics, the Australian women’s team has taken out the opening round of the new rugby sevens series in Dubai.

Reminding everyone what could have been, the Australian women’s team beat their arch rivals New Zealand to win the opening round of the new rugby sevens series in Dubai.

In their first tournament since they imploded at the Paris Olympics to miss out on a medal, the Aussies beat New Zealand 28-24 in a thrilling final to win the Dubai title for the fifth season in a row.

“It’s pretty incredible, I’m lost for words with how I feel right now and am on the verge of tears,” Australian captain Isabella Nasser said.

“I’m just so happy and proud of the girls for how they showed up tonight and for the rest of the tournament.

“We have a tight-knit group and the young players showed up. The Black Ferns are always a hard team to play and it’s such a good rivalry.”

World player of the year Madison Levi once again played the starring role.

With Australia trailing 24-21 with less than two minutes to go, she latched on to an intercept and sprinted away to score her 15th try for the tournament, a record for a single World Series event.

Australian star Charlotte Caslick

Levi’s sister Teagan also scored for Australia, as did Nasser and Faith Nathan before the Black Ferns fought back to nearly snatch the win.

Even after Madison Levi’s try, the Kiwis threatened to regain the lead before Charlotte Caslick, who relinquished the captaincy for the new season, forced a turnover.

“We just love the vibe of playing here and the weather, it’s a dry field and it suits the way we play,” Caslick said.

“Every year we roll out more and more young girls and it shows the depth of our program. I think that’s why we do so well each year because our program is so strong.“

The Australians finished seventh in the men’s tournament, won by Fiji.

“I thought we played some decent games. We haven’t been able to finish some of them but we’ve really progressed in the tournament,” Australian captain Henry Hutchison said.

The second round of the World Series takes place in Cape Town next weekend.

Originally published as Australia women’s rugby sevens win opening round in Dubai