Charlotte Caslick's playful dig at teammates after Dubai Sevens triumph

Former captain Charlotte Caslick has playfully taken a dig at her Australian teammates after the team’s dramatic 28-24 win over New Zealand on Sunday. Australia beat their rivals to claim their fifth straight Dubai Sevens title, which is a perfect start to the new HSBC SVNS Series season.

With the new season getting off to a cracking start out in the Dubai desert over the weekend, Australia were quick to make a statement during pool play. The women in gold beat China 54-nil in the opening fixture, and would only go on to concede 12 points across those three games.

Australia finished with a staggering +106 points differential after pool stage of the event at The Sevens Stadium, and they continued that form throughout the knockout rounds with a 39-nil win against Olympic silver medallists Canada and a 35-7 demolition of Great Britain.

 

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With the Black Ferns Sevens beating SVNS heavyweights France in the other women’s semi-final, the stage was set for an enthralling Cup Final. Both teams controlled possession during periods of the decider, and it came down to the wire but the Aussies emerged victorious 28-24.

Caslick was named the Player of the Final which capped off an impressive season-opener for the SVN Series icon. Before being swarmed by the other Australian players mid-interview, the three-time Olympian explained why the team looked so “joyful” during the national anthem.

“Every time we get to sing the national anthem together, it gives everyone goosebumps,” Caslick said on the RugbyPass TV broadcast.

“We’re actually laughing at each other because we’re so bad at singing so that’s why it looks so joyful.”

This Australian side is a genuine close-knit group, which Caslick’s comments and the on-field brilliance both highlight. Coach Tim Walsh has world-class players at his disposal, and those on the field are able to complement each other’s skillsets very well as the Dubai Sevens showed.

Faith Nathan sliced through two New Zealand defenders to score the opening try of the contest in the first minute, and Teagan Levi added another score a couple of minutes later. Australia quickly raced out to a 12-nil lead which left the Kiwis in desperate need of some points.

Jorja Miller and Risi Pouri-Lane hit back for the Black Ferns Sevens in quick succession, but the Australians would have the last laugh before the break with new captain Isabella Nasser racing away for a decisive score.

Australia had somewhat dominated the first half, or at least large periods of it, and they were rewarded with a 21-12 half-time lead. But the New Zealanders weren’t going to give up, with Theresa Setefano and Manaia Nuku scoring inside the first few minutes of the second term.

The Black Ferns Sevens led as the game clock continued to tick closer to full-time.

But Maddison Levi has the heroine the Australians needed with the World Rugby’s Women’s Sevens Player of the Year intercepting a Jazmin Felix-Hotham pass to runaway for what ended up being the match-winning. That was also her 15^th try of the weekend which is an all-time record.

“We just love the vibe of playing here and we love the weather, it’s a dry field, and I think it just really suits the way we like to play,” Caslick explained.

“Every year we roll out more and more young girls and that shows the depth of our program. I think the reason we do so well here is the fact that our program is so strong.”

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