Golden girls shine bright after Wallabies’ 'disappointing’ World Cup
The Wallabies’ disastrous Rugby World Cup campaign will never be forgotten. Having failed to make it past the pool stage for the first time, the Aussies were caught on the wrong side of history in France.
But a group of golden girls are shining “a little bit of light” at the end of an otherwise dark tunnel for Australian rugby, with the Aussies going back at the Dubai and Cape Town SVNS this month.
Led by captain Charlotte Caslick and try-scoring machine Maddison Levi, the women in gold have bounced back from an underwhelming 2022/23 to take out the first two legs of the new campaign.
Australia only conceded one try across six pool games at The Sevens Stadium and the Cape Town Stadium, but their dominance carried into day two on both occasions.
Reigning world champions New Zealand had their 41-game unbeaten run ended in the Dubai decider, and the Australians backed that up with a 29-26 win over France a week later.
With the men’s team also making the final in Cape Town, the SVNS teams are holding the torch for Australian rugby during a difficult period for the sport Down Under.
“Our Wallabies had a pretty disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign and rugby has been doing it pretty tough back home,” captain Charlotte Caslick told reporters in Cape Town.
“This is hopefully a little bit of light for rugby fans back in Australia and hopefully they come out in Perth to support us.”
The Aussies’ 2023/24 season started eerily similar to their previous campaign. Last time out, the women in gold kicked off their quest for SVNS world glory with a cup final triumph in Dubai.
But that’s as good as things got. It was all New Zealand from there as the Black Ferns Sevens took out the Cape Town final and another five events on their way to World Series glory.
While a new season offers the opportunity to not quite right the wrongs from the year before, but rather to channel the lessons that the Aussies learnt – it was time for the team to put their growth into into practice.
Following a long pre-season – with Demi Hayes telling RugbyPass that they “played nearly a whole World Series” – the Aussies have taken their game to an all-new level ahead of an Olympic year.
“We were talking a lot about back-to-back and we’ve never won in Cape Town on a World Series,” Caslick said.
“We love to play here so it was something that we’ve always spoken about, winning here, and I’m really proud of the girls doing it.
“We made it pretty hard on ourselves but it’s probably one of our best wins ever.
“Just the courage the girls have to keep fighting for each other is something you can’t coach, it’s innate in them and they’ve got a lot of ticker in them these girls.
“I’m super proud of them.”
Tickets are on sale now for the next SVNS Series event in Perth which gets underway on January 26.
Comments on RugbyPass
Mark Telea is a lot of things, but a defensive juggernaut has never been one of them. There will be far bigger tests in that regard for the youngster.
9 Go to commentsLove and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
3 Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
1 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
9 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments