You often find out more about yourself or your team when under pressure which says a lot about what Australia’s rugby sevens girls have discovered in Perth.
The Australians won their way into a Sunday night final at the HSBC SVNS against favourites New Zealand without two of their biggest weapons.
Injuries to star winger Maddi Levi (broken thumb) and Faith Nathan (head knock) in Saturday night’s quarter-final win over Japan meant the home side had to find a way to get past Canada in Sunday’s afternoon semi-final.
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The Australians won 24-17 but it was not without a few stressful moments.
They confidently jumped to a 19-0 lead with replacements Kahli Henwood (pictured above) and Heidi Dennis in strong form.
The Australians proudly showed the depth of their squad which is being supported for a third year by major sponsor ISPS HANDA.
The sponsorship extension was announced in the days before the Perth tournament which has again showcased the dynamic appeal of rugby sevens for women.
The sold-out sign at 20,000 fans was up at Perth’s HBF Park for Sunday’s final by late afternoon.
Experienced 2020 Tokyo Olympian Demi Hayes spoke of the significance of the win without Levi and Nathan, both prolific try-scorers.
“The younger girls, Heidi and Kahli, were awesome. The whole point of a squad is to develop players to be ready for opportunities like this and they snatched them up,” Hayes said.
“Charlotte (Caslick) and I are the most experienced in this squad by a long way so it’s important to step up, be mature and try to teach the younger girls to be calm in big moments and get the job done.”
Against Canada, that meant Hayes reading a short-side play off a scrum and a long-range sprint to the tryline after Caslick and Teagan Levi had delivered her the ball.
Dennis produced a power fend that catapulted her away from the defence for her try on the left sideline after Henwood had caught a re-start and bolted into open space.
The Canadians rallied and closed the scores to 19-17 before Henwood produced the clutch play.
She again leapt for the final Canadian kick re-start, steadied and dashed more than 50m. A final pop pass to Hayes finished the semi-final in style.
Earlier, Henwood had shown class in veering across field to link with captain Bella Nasser. Henwood stayed active to be present on the inside to take a return pass for her own try.
Henwood, Dennis, pacy sub Mackenzie Davis…the Australians have definitely advanced a new breed in Perth.
The Kiwis were 36-7 winners over France in the other semi-final.
In the men’s draw, Australia continued their golden revival by beating South Africa 17-12 in extra time in the semi-finals to advance to the final against Argentina.
