Griffith University have been crowned champions of the AON Women’s Rugby Uni 7s for 2018 after taking out the final round with a storming performance in the gold medal match.
A brace of tries from powerhouse Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea set Griffith on the road to victory, with further five-pointers by Alana Elisaia and Ivania Wong keeping them in the driving seat.
Griffith had to resist a late rally from their Queensland rivals but deservedly hung on to win 26-19 and claim a third series round title in succession.
“This is pretty incredible,” team captain and Bachelor of Public Relations and Communication student, Kiri Lingman, said.
“We have dreamed of this moment and it’s very much a dream come through.
“We produced a gutsy effort in every tournament and dug deep right to the very end today.”
The outstanding Laura Waldie, a Bachelor of Oral Health Dental Science student, andAlysia Lefau-Fakaosilea were also named on the AON Series Dream Team for 2018, selected by Australian 7s coaching staff.
Kahli Henwood (Education), Eliza Flynn (Sport Development), Sophie Quirk (Exercise Science) and 13th player Katie Curtis (Sport Management) were the other current students involved over the weekend.
Griffith had taken a two-point advantage at the top of the ladder into the weekend action and an unbeaten run to the gold medal game meant the national title was secured before a tackle was made in the final.
Griffith proved too strong for University of New England (36-12), Bond University (30-0), University of Queensland (20-10) and University of Canberra (26-0) en route to the knock-out stages.
In the semi-final they saw off University of Sydney (39-5) to confirm the series. A string of high tempo performances were marked by composure, discipline and a run of crunching tackles which kept the opposition on the backfoot throughout the weekend.
Griffith finished top of the ladder with 94 points, eight clear of runners-up and defending champions, University of Queensland.