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Sydney University women’s rugby union player Emily Chancellor has been included in an extended Wallaroos squad for the 2017 World Women’s Rugby Cup.

Chancellor, a Sydney University Sport and Fitness Elite Athlete Program sports scholarship holder, has been included in the training group that will come together from August 26-30 as Australia continues to build and develop a strong Wallaroos squad for the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup, to be held in Ireland.

The Sydney University club already had three players in the Wallaroos squad, including Ashleigh Hewson, Michelle Bailey and Grace Hamilton.

Hewson represented Australia in the 2010 and 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cups, Bailey was selected in the extended squad for the 2014 World Cup, while it is Hamilton’s first selection.

Chancellor is one of 12 players from the Championship-winning Sydney squad to gain selection. The squad also includes five players from the ACT, eight from Queensland, five from Western Australia, three each from Victoria, South Australia and Australian Services Rugby Union and one from NSW Country.

Wallaroos coach Paul Verrell said the camp will be a great opportunity to have a look at players across all positions and to start planning for the next three years.

“The talent that was on display during the Women’s Nationals was exceptional and it was clear that there is a whole new generation of Wallaroos players coming through the ranks,” he said.

“Although the squad we have selected won’t be the final group we take to Ireland in 2017, it’s an important first step on that journey to set the high standards we expect from this team.”

Chancellor, a Bachelor of Education and Social Work student, originally came to the university on a netball scholarship.

But motivated by the prospect of competing for Australia at the 2016 Olympic Games, in 2013 she turned her attention to elite level rugby union, after being selected in the Barbarians team to compete at the 2013 National Women’s Rugby Sevens Championship.

“I got involved in rugby a little bit by chance,” she told Roar Magazine last year. “I heard too late that there were trials for the ‘Pathway to Gold’ program, as rugby sevens has been named as an Olympic sport for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. I missed the trials and turned up to a training session and I loved it. After that I ended up going down to the AIS for a camp and joined a specific rugby sevens club.”

Chancellor soon found that rugby training helped her to stay and fit and strong in her netball off-season.

“Rugby has helped keep me motivated in the off season for netball. I’ve been focusing on strength and fitness, and my ball skills have also improved on the netball court as well. I feel that both sports complement each other, through the ability to read play, ball skills, stepping and fitness,” she said.

Selection in the Wallaroos squad is yet another progression in her dual sporting pursuits. As well as playing Sevens, she is now on the verge of national selection in the 15 women version of the code.

That means a World Cup has been added to her Olympic Games dreams.

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