Perth win 'one of the best' of Charlotte Caslick's career

Australian rugby sevens great Charlotte Caslick has rated the team’s gritty win at the Perth event as one of the best moments of her stellar career.

A thrilling 28-26 win over New Zealand In the final on Sunday gave Australia their second triumph in three World Series events and moved them to within two points of the ladder-leading Kiwis.

Their win was even more meritorious given major strike weapons, world sevens player of the year Maddison Levi and Faith Nathan, were unavailable for the two matches on Sunday.

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Levi, who had scored nine tries in Australia’s first four wins, including two hat-tricks, broke a thumb while Nathan failed an HIA.

Australia also had Madison Ashby and Bienne Terita unavailable for the tournament.

The squad contained five players 21 or under and, with the superstars absent, some of the younger members stood up.

Heidi Dennis,19, followed up a try in the 24-17 semi-final win over Canada with two in the final, earning her player-of-the-match honours.

“I think today in particular showcased the depth we have within our squad, girls like Heidi stepping up.” Caslick said.

“Mackenzie Davies got a lot of minutes there as well and we just seem to be able to roll them out throughout our squad and they play as good as the girls front of them, which is so good.”

Caslick has been part of many Australian tournament wins over the past decade, including the 2016 Olympics, but rated the latest triumph highly.

“I think it’s one of the best ones yet, I’m just so proud of the girls,” Caslick said.

“Some of those girls haven’t played a lot of rugby on the World Series up until this tournament .

“To see what they could put out there and the way they performed was something that I’m really proud to be a part of and I’m just so excited to be moving forward with them.”

Dennis was a talented footballer who made the Young Matildas squad before switching to rugby where her career has been stalled by injuries.

“Coming off back-to-back injuries, it’s good to finally just get a straight run.” Dennis said.

The victory in Perth ended Australia’s seven-year tournament drought on home soil.

Australia’s men also suffered injury issues in Perth, but moved two places up the table to sixth, after achieving a season-best runners-up spot in Perth by losing 41-5 to Argentina in the final.

Injuries deprived them of James Turner, Henry Hutchinson, Hayden Sargeant and James Turner after their dramatic 17-12 semi-final win after extra time over Canada.

They lost their first two pool games, but won their next three matches before being steamrolled by the defending Series champions, as they were in last year’s Perth final.