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'Age is just a number': Sharni Williams re-signs with third Olympics in sight

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Legendary rugby player Sharni Williams has signed on to the sevens for another year as she pursues her second Olympic gold and third Games appearance.

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Williams helped lead the Australian rugby sevens to victory when she co-captained the team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Though her side came second in the pool round in Tokyo, they were knocked out after a devastating 14-12 loss to Fiji in the quarter-finals.

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The team locked in a spot for Paris 2024 after a masterclass performance at the 2022/23 World Series, which means Williams’ decision to re-sign will give her another shot at the top prize.

“It gives me that opportunity to chase the dream of going to another Olympics,” the 35-year-old said.

“I’m just really excited to be given this opportunity and still be playing at this level at 35 years old.

“Age is just a number. It’s about how you feel.”

Of the winning 12-person squad, only two remain – Williams and 28-year-old Charlotte Caslick.

But the forward is confident the new team has what it takes to claim the gong in just over 400 days’ time.

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“There’s a lot of young girls,” Williams said.

“They obviously bring my age up a little bit – I’m a bit older now.

“But the talent that they have, the opportunities they have playing for women’s sport is just through the roof.”

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Young guns such as 19-year-old Teagan Levi and her 21-year-old sister Maddison, who made a shock choice to pivot from AFLW to rugby union, have inspired the team and brought fans to stadium seats.

“It’s really cool to be able to learn from them as well as teach them,” Williams said.

“Having you know some of these 18- or 19-year-old girls will be able to have a gold medal is going to be the pinnacle of our sport, and that’s what brings women to rugby sevens.

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“Let’s really rally around them and learn from them because we can give back to them too.”

The rebuilt national team has sparkled on the world stage. They won the 2021/22 World Rugby Sevens Series and finished second the following year.

The lead-up to the Olympics will be about giving the young players confidence to play to their potential.

“We’ve created a lot of opportunities for these young girls to play through the World Series, and our preseason is going to be pretty full-on,” Williams said.

“They’ll be able to play different games over in Canada and Ireland, just really give them confidence.

“That’s what I needed when I was a young kid, to go out there and be confident playing for my country.”

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AM 39 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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