Australia featured heavily across the Global Youth Sevens this weekend just gone in Auckland, and departed with some silverware as the U18s boys side won their first title since 2016.
An annual Rugby Sevens tournament showcasing the best talent under 18, 23 female and 32 male teams converged on the Dilworth School in Auckland over the weekend, with teams coming from as far away as the US and UK.
On the Aussie front, both the boys and girls sides enjoyed strong runs throughout the weekend, reflecting that the depth of Australia’s Sevens program looks set to continue.
Unfortunately, the U18s girls’ side fell one game short of a clean sweep for the Aussies, losing their crown from last year’s success and going down to an impressive Japanese side in the final.
The Aussie U18s boys side celebrate with the Japanese side at the 2024 Global Youth 7s event (Source: Global Youth Sevens)
Making it all the way to the final, the U18s boys came up against a powerful composite outfit New Edition – and blew them away 31-7.
Tries to Tom Howard and Tom Hartman early in the first half set the tone for the match, with the Aussies running away afterwards thanks to a stellar performance from Wallace Charlie, earning player of the match – with a brilliant blindside try to Charlie Bird putting the game beyond doubt.
The girls’ side earlier in the day proved a much harder nut to crack in their final, looking to defend their crown against a red-hot Japanese side.
Japan came into the match having taken down hosts New Zealand in the semi-final, and kept that form going scoring the first two tries of the match.
However, a brilliant Tahlia O’Brien try was quickly followed up by Waratah Waiaria Ellis setting up Damita Betham to cut the margin to two points.
However, the Japanese side fought back afterwards, eventually running out 26-15 winners.
Despite the disappointment, the side still stood out in a strong weekend, with Rhani Hagan and Amelia Whitaker being selected in the team of the tournament.
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/NefA0Di Youth Sevens: U18s boys break title drought, girls fall in final
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