The Sydney 7s has concluded with Fiji taking out the Men’s final in a thrilling match against South Africa 12-10 and New Zealand Women winning the Women’s draw against Canada 33-7.
The Aussie 7s Women emerged with the bronze medal after again accounting for France for the second time in the tournament in a grueling 12-10 encounter.
The Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens fell in a tough fifth-place final to New Zealand in torrential conditions.
A late Lachie Anderson try was not enough for the Aussies who fought hard against their Trans-Tasman rivals with Australian taking sixth place.
Overall 34, 212 fans enjoyed the Sydney 7s at its new home of Bankwest Stadium, with the ever vocal and popular Fijian fans providing a huge energy across the two days.
Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens Captain, Sharni Williams said the third-place playoff was a valuable learning experience.
“We had to dig deep and we really had to show some ticker and fight for the whole game for our fans.
“We didn’t get a lot of ball against Canada; we know what we need to work on, and we’ll be ready for next time.
“You always aim to take out a tournament. We have been figuring out how our team works and getting our roles right. We just need to iron out that consistency and we will be right to go again.”
$40,500 dollars was raised for the Red Cross Bush Fire Recovery Appeal with equal donations from Rugby Australia, World Rugby and ASICS with every Australian try scored throughout the tournament.
Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens Head Coach, Tim Walsh said of his team's performance,
“Against the top teams you can’t just bring attitude, you have to be the complete team where you have the intelligence and ability to execute under pressure.
“We were outclassed by both USA and New Zealand today.
“We have had a sound couple of weeks with some solid individual and team performances but we know we can be better and we will be.”
