The triumphant Aussie Women’s Sevens team begin their celebrations in Dubai
Photo: IRB / Martin Seras Lima

by Brendan Bradford –

Australia staged a heroic second half comeback to beat New Zealand 35-27 in the final of Women’s Dubai Sevens tournament on Saturday morning. Trailing 27-5 after halftime, Australia fought back with a four try blitz to steal the game and the opening round of the Women’s Sevens Series.

Spearheaded by a hat-trick to World Series debutant Rachel Crothers, Australia’s superior fitness showed through in the second half as the youthful outfit scored 28 unanswered points to give coach Tim Walsh a win in his first tournament in charge of the side.

“It’s not a fluke, the girls have worked really hard on their core skills,” Walsh said after the win.

“We’ve been progressing the whole way through pre-season, but every team is going to up their game going into the next round of the series, and we just gotta keep working.”

Lacking any meaningful possession in the first half, Australia were put to the sword by a more experienced New Zealand side, but captain Sharni Williams always believed a comeback was possible.

“We knew that New Zealand were strong and would give us a run for our money,” Williams said.

Aussie Women’s Sevens captain Sharni Williams in action – Photo: IRB / Martin Seras Lima

“I’m just proud of the girls and proud of the young ones stepping up. Rachel Crothers hasn’t played many games, she came from ten a side and we chucked her into playing Sevens and look at how he scores international tries now.

“(At halftime) I still thought the girls had it in them, we’ve been training really hard and our conditioning has really paid off.”

It was the second comeback of the tournament for the Australians after they turned around a 12-0 halftime deficit to beat England 19-12 in the quarter-finals. The Aussies then trounced Russia 31-0 in the semis while New Zealand beat Canada to make the final.

The Kiwis kept the ball alive brilliantly in the decider for Carla Hohepa to open the scoring after two minutes. A 70-meter piece of solo magic from Kayla McAlister and a quick double to Honey Hireme extended the lead to 22-0 before Aussie flyer Crothers pegged one back before the break for a 22-7 score-line.

Another McAlister five-pointer gave New Zealand what looked like a comfortable 27-5 advantage before momentum shifted and Australia surged back into contention.

Crothers’ second impressive runaway and an Ellia Green try down the left wing narrowed the gap to 27-21. A Sharni Williams cross-field kick and a brilliant behind the back pick up from Crothers set up the go ahead score for Emiree Cherry and New Zealand looked dead in the water.

Crothers capped off a spectacular debut with a third try – her seventh of the tournament – for the eventual 35-27 score.

Russia upset Canada in the third place play-off with a try on the final siren for a 15-10 win.

The second Women’s Sevens Tournament is in Atlanta on February 15-16.