Dubai, Hong Kong and London may seem like your typical destination for a holiday. But for the Australian Women’s 7’s team this is where they take on the world in one of the fastest growing sports.
In the lead up to this weeks Hong Kong 7’s tournament, Green and Gold Rugby were lucky enough to chat with coach Chris Lane and captain Rebecca Tavo as they took time out from their camp at the Australian Institute of Sport.
Sevens rugby has been included on the Olympics schedule in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and the hard work starts now in preparation for the gold medal. The Olympics isn’t the only event to look forward to, with the squad having the chance to defend their World Cup 7’s title in Moscow in 2013.
The support of the AIS is invaluable to the squad as it allows them to meet every four weeks or so as there are 17 contracted members of the squad spread out across Australia from Sydney to Darwin and over to Perth and this provides a central point to update and plan their progress.
The installation of full-time coach Chris Lane also allows dedicated time to keep a check on the progress of players when not in camp. When the squad aren’t assembled at the AIS they follow programs set by their own state academies.
Lane says the key focus of the camps is to ‘keep improving’. Despite being World Cup winners the game is new to some of the squad and they will head to Hong Kong with 2 debutantes with the next 6 months crucial in the development of individuals and the team as a whole. This is where Lanes previous role in running the ARU’s Pathway to Gold program comes in handy where the ability to identify up and coming talent helps introduce newcomers to the game.
For Rebecca Tavo the transition to 7’s Rugby has been made easier with her background in touch football and believes those skills are a huge advantage. The skills developed in touch like spatial awareness, finding gaps and quick recycling of the ball put those transferring to 7’s at a distinct advantage.
The Women’s sevens circuit is benefiting from IRB plans to expand the game globally. Currently the team competes in the first IRB sanctioned Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup that had it’s first stage in Dubai where the Australian’s finished 3rd behind Canada.
With over 200,000 registered female players worldwide, further plans are in place to expand the Women’s circuit and could mirror that of the men who play on a World Circuit with stages held in locations such as the Gold Coast, Las Vegas and Wellington.
With the game gaining Olympic status the chance to add a gold to their medal tally has seen some countries that don’t usually spring to mind as rugby powerhouses pump in extra resources. Countries like the Netherlands, Brazil, Spain and Tunisia are emerging as threats on the world stage.
The Australian team leaves for Hong Kong on Wednesday and will take on the Netherlands and Hong Kong in their pool matches before hopefully bringing home the cup in front some of the craziest rugby fans in the world – the infamous South Stand.
Squad for Hong Kong
Rebecca Tavo
Debby Hodgkinson
Alex Hargreaves
Shannon Parry
Emma Gillogly
Iliseva Batibasaga
Bo De La Cruz
Cobie-Jane Morgan
Sharni Williams
Emilee Cherry
Shontelle Stowers
Tricia Brown
Follow the progress of the team and Rebecca on twitter and see her in action in this video.
