Australian womens sevens crowned world champions for the second time in three seasons
THE Australian womens sevens team are world champions for the second time in three seasons after star Emilee Cherry sealed a thrilling win with a last-second try at the Paris Sevens.
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SHE admits to waking the neighbours a few times but Alicia Quirk was - somehow - also fully confident her Australian womens sevens team could score clutch tries in successive games in Paris and be crowned world champions.
And that’s exactly what happened in the wee hours of Sunday morning, with Emilee Cherry scoring in the dying seconds of back-to-back playoff matches to ensure the Aussie sevens team wrapped up their second World Rugby sevens series title in three years.
Going into the fifth and final tournament in Paris, the Aussies held a slim points lead over rivals New Zealand and only had to make the final to secure the crown.
They trailed Fiji in the quarter-finals until Cherry scored a match-winning try near the bell, and France led the Aussies in the semi-final as the seconds ticked down, too.
It looked as though a loss would gift the Kiwis the season title but a crucial steal, tap and run by Emma Tonegato helped Cherry race 40 metres to score and win as the siren sounded.
It was enough to have Aussie fans cheering in their lounge rooms at 5am, and among them was an ecstatic Quirk, who missed the tournament due to a family bereavement.
“I woke the neighbours a couple of times,” Quirk said.
“But I always had belief in the girls and I know when they’ve got the ball in hand, they are hard to stop. And they showed that. It doesn’t matter if it’s in extra time, the last minute, whatever. “
“That’s a sign of world-class teams. Look at the Fiji men’s team. Never beaten until the final moment.
“We train for those scenarios and practice for that stuff. We believe in our ability to do that.
“Those nerves of steel have been developed over the years, I guess.”
Australia wins in Dubai and Sydney at the start of the year set up a points lead over New Zealand, whose fifth placed slump in Dubai haunted them even as they won in Japan and Canada.
The Aussies only need to turn up to play in the final to officially collect the World Series trophy but Quirk said the team will be determined to finish with a victory.
Winning a world title is a remarkable achievement given the Australian team has undergone some major challenges this season.
The team swapped coaches mid-year when Tim Walsh moved to the mens team and assistant John Manenti stepped up into the main role.
Australia has also been without several big stars this year, too.
Reigning player of the year Chloe Dalton left the program, and a host of new players were brought in as experienced players were also injured.
In Paris the Australian side was without co-captain Sharni Williams and fellow Rio stars Quirk and Ellis Green. Indeed, only five of the 13 in Paris were Olympians.
It was fitting that Cherry, Tonegato and Caslick stepped up with clutch plays and leadership.
Cherry said the points equation - make the final and win the world series - was not mentioned by the team but everyone knew it.
“We knew it in the back of our mind but there was no talk to it. John Manenti gave us a stirring speech out on the field and said “leave absolutely everything out on the field” and we did that,” Cherry said.
“It’s absolutely huge, winning our second world series title. And we have a bunch of new girls, so that’s awesome. But we want to come back out again tomorrow and show this French crowd and everyone at home a really top notch game against New Zealand.”
Co-captain Shannon Parry said the team felt “sheer relief, to be honest”.
“For us I guess it is has been an up and down year. We obviously started well, had a bit of a lull there through the Commonwealth Games, and made the final in Canada and had our cards handed to us (by New Zealand),” Parry said.
“For us, we have another job to do to tomorrow and really looking forward to that challenge.”
The Paris final will be played at 1.30am (AEST).