Sydney University athletes were well represented at the Rugby 7’s National Championships and Youth National Championships this week. Rugby players Illiseva Batibasaga, Emily Chancellor and Sarah Halvorsen were selected in the NSW Blue side, while Barbara Waddell, Deven Owsiany and Rugby Scholarship holder Kim Davey were selected for NSW White. Jade Fonua was also selected for the Youth NSW 7s.
The NSW Blue team proudly won a gold medal at the championships, flying through their round matches winning every game of the competition by large margins.
NSW Blue 36 – NT 0
NSW Blue 52 – QLD White 0
NSW Blue 29 – National Indigenous 7
The team then advanced to the finals, again having an easy run home in the last day of competition, beating Australian University and Australian Services with matching scores of 36 – 0. In an impressive display of dominance NSW Blue then played QLD Red in the Cup Final, winning the gold medal 22 – 0. Former Wallaroo and Pearl Illiseva Batibasaga was awarded best Female player by Tim Walsh, the Australian Women’s 7s Head Coach.
While NSW White had a successful first day, the team narrowly lost both finals and finally took 7th place. Following the National Youth Championships, Jade Fonua has since been selected for the Australian Youth 7s squad and will represent Australia in the Youth Commonwealth games in June this year.
Congratulations to all athletes who competed at the Championships this week held at the Sydney Academy of Sport in Narrabeen.
