‘Rugby has given me belonging’: Sevens pioneer to retire after Olympics

Paris: Sharni Smale has decided to hang up the rainbow headgear after what will be her third Olympic campaign in Paris.

Australia’s longest-serving female rugby sevens player and Olympic gold medallist from Rio 2016 has told teammates that this sevens tournament will be her last.

Williams still wants to play XVs rugby for the Wallaroos but is stepping away from international sevens after 12 years on the circuit.

“It’s time for me to be able to step away and let that next generation come through and own their position,” Smale, nee Williams, told this masthead. “I think after the Games, I’ll definitely sit down and reflect a lot.

“Even just now thinking of being a three-time Olympian, that’s a pretty crazy achievement. It is just all the highlights of my life.”

The 36-year-old wanted to announce her sevens retirement on the 20th day of the seventh month of the year, given she is the 20th player to represent her country in the format.

Sharni Williams, now Smale, fends off Portia Woodman in the Commonwealth Games final, wearing her rainbow headgearCredit: Getty

She has been an integral part of the team for more than a decade and showed durability like few others in a decorated career that coincided with the rise of the women’s game. Smale didn’t know what rugby was until she was 20 but is incredibly proud that more young girls around the country have taken up the sport since Australia’s historic gold medal.

Smale and Charlotte Caslick are the only two survivors from the 2016 Olympic team that won Australia’s inaugural rugby sevens gold medal.

Both were also there in Tokyo when Australia’s women’s side failed to make it past the quarter-finals.

“You can’t go past the gold medal match in Rio. That’s a massive high,” Smale said. “It also came with the low of not knowing if I was going to make it.”

Australian sevens stars Sharni Smale (left) and Charlotte Caslick (right) after being picked for their third Olympics. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Smale, an openly gay athlete who married her partner, Mel, last year, made headlines in Tokyo after she was granted permission by the International Olympic Committee to wear rainbow headgear.

She says rugby has been her safe place for years.

“Rugby has given me belonging,” she said. “It’s given me a platform to be able to voice who I am and have that visibility as well for my LGBTQI+ family.

“It’s been amazing to be able to wear the rainbow headgear and have that little bit of visibility. I’m pretty proud of being able to be authentically me out there on that field because that’s where I feel most at home. Any time off the field is kind of a little bit scary. I know who I am on that field and off the field.

“I’ve always wanted to be a person that could lead the sport in a better light.”

Smale recovered from gall bladder surgery to make a third Olympic team and credited strength and conditioning guru Tom Carter with helping prolong her career.

Australia’s women start their Olympic campaign on July 28 with pool matches against South Africa and Great Britain before another the following day against Ireland.

“We’re ranked second, so obviously the pressure is going to be on [top-ranked] New Zealand,” Smale said.

“We’ve all been training extremely hard. We’ve got so much belief and confidence within the group. We’re a tight-knit group. Charlotte’s been leading so well, and she’s in some really good form.”

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