Australia - Rugby 7s World Champions!
Guest poster: Bronnie Macintosh, dual international (league and union) and all round sporting goddess.
Almost 10 years to the day, I stumbled out of Joe Bananas in Hong Kong and announced to anyone who would listen, that 7s would be the game for our Australian Women and that in 7s we could win a World Cup. From memory, and as I tend to do when feeling passionate about something, I harped on .... and on ... that given our unexplored and natural rugby talent in the country plus our background in touch football and rugby league, we could build a 7s program that would see us become the best in the World.
With the seed of this dream planted, we played rugby, taking the few opportunities provided by our struggling structure and creating many more ourselves - playing in tournaments at home and overseas. The moments in those 10 years are too many to mention, the memories, the players, all building the belief blindly for what was to come.
When the IRB announced there would be a Women's World Cup to help their quest for Olympic inclusion, the dream was given a time frame ...
Thankfully, the ARU got wholeheartedly behind the dream and provided the structure to recruit from touch & league and suitably prepare our squad with everything they would need.
From here, the girls themselves took the proverbial ball and ran with it .... all the way into extra time of a thrilling final with the rugby nemesis New Zealand ... to become the inaugural World Cup Champions of Women's Rugby 7s.
Three of the girls who were in Joe Bananas that night 10 years ago - Cheryl Soon, Tui Ormsby and Selena Tranter - completed that dream, making history and showcasing Australian Women's Rugby to the World.
I salute you all, to have shared in that victory and the culmination of my dream, was something I will never forget.
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!
Cheryl, Bronnie, Tui
Almost 10 years to the day, I stumbled out of Joe Bananas in Hong Kong and announced to anyone who would listen, that 7s would be the game for our Australian Women and that in 7s we could win a World Cup. From memory, and as I tend to do when feeling passionate about something, I harped on .... and on ... that given our unexplored and natural rugby talent in the country plus our background in touch football and rugby league, we could build a 7s program that would see us become the best in the World.
With the seed of this dream planted, we played rugby, taking the few opportunities provided by our struggling structure and creating many more ourselves - playing in tournaments at home and overseas. The moments in those 10 years are too many to mention, the memories, the players, all building the belief blindly for what was to come.
When the IRB announced there would be a Women's World Cup to help their quest for Olympic inclusion, the dream was given a time frame ...
Thankfully, the ARU got wholeheartedly behind the dream and provided the structure to recruit from touch & league and suitably prepare our squad with everything they would need.
From here, the girls themselves took the proverbial ball and ran with it .... all the way into extra time of a thrilling final with the rugby nemesis New Zealand ... to become the inaugural World Cup Champions of Women's Rugby 7s.
Three of the girls who were in Joe Bananas that night 10 years ago - Cheryl Soon, Tui Ormsby and Selena Tranter - completed that dream, making history and showcasing Australian Women's Rugby to the World.
I salute you all, to have shared in that victory and the culmination of my dream, was something I will never forget.
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!
Cheryl, Bronnie, Tui
Labels: australia, Bronnie Macintosh, Cheryl Soon, Dubai, Rugby 7s, Selena Tranter, Tui Ormsby, union, Wallaroos, World Champions, World Cup
posted by Sporting Sheilas at
11:57 AM
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