Queensland have claimed both the Women’s and Men’s National Sevens titles for 2016, with the two Queensland Red sides winning their respective Cup Finals at the National Sevens Championships in Adelaide.
Both the Queensland Red sides crossed for five tries in their Cup Finals, the women claiming a 29-17 win over NSW and the men a 31-19 win over Australian Universities.
In the women’s final, Darling Downs products and Australian representatives Dominique Du Toit and Georgie Friedrichs led the charge for the Queensland Women, scoring three tries between them to give Queensland a 17-5 lead at half-time.
Fellow Darling Downs local Shenae Ciesiolka crossed in the opening minute of the second half to further extend the lead, before a yellow-card to Kiri Lingman saw Queensland reduced to six players.
Lingman made up for her absence, scoring Queensland’s final try in the 19th minute to secure the 29-17 win.
The Queensland White Women’s team finished third overall, claiming a 19-5 win over Western Australia.
The victorious Queensland Red Women's team.
PHOTO: Peter Mundy. The Queensland men followed in the footsteps of the women, crossing for three first half tries through Junior Laloifi, Connor Clancy and Tom Pincus, to carry a 19-nil lead into half-time of the men’s Cup Final.
Australian Universities were first to cross in the second half, but a further try through Pincus and a brilliant chip-and-chase effort from Byron Hutchinson saw the Queenslanders finish ahead 31-19.
The Queensland White Men’s side finished eighth overall.
The title winning Queensland Red Men's side.
PHOTO: Peter Mundy The two title haul is just reward for the work put into the Sevens program in Queensland according to Queensland Academy of Sport Women’s Sevens Academy head coach Lachlan Parkinson.
“The two title wins are credit to the work that the players and the coaching staff have put in behind the scenes,” he said.
“These two wins have been a year in the making following the disappointment of missing out on silverware in 2015.
“The players have all bought into the program and it was great to see four of our Australian representatives and QAS graduates, Shenae Ciesiolka, Dom Du Toit, Georgie Friedrichs and Laura Waldie, come back and represent their state proudly.
“For Friedrichs in particular, who captained the side, she has put a lot of time and effort into the game in Queensland and it’s great to see her perform so well and be recognised as player of the tournament.
“To win the title and have our Queensland White side finish third overall, it shows that the time and effort that the QAS and Queensland Rugby are putting into our Women’s Sevens program is paying dividends.”
VIDEO: Hear from Queensland Red Women's captain and Player of the Tournament - Georgie Friedrichs.
Parkinson was also full of praise for the efforts of the coaching staff, in particular former Wests premier grade player and Tribe 7s coach Cassidy Holland who took over the role of men’s head coach for the first time in 2016.
“Our two Queensland Red coaches, Cassidy Holland (men’s) and Sione Fukofuka (women’s), have done a brilliant job in creating a professional environment for both the men’s and women’s sides and the performance of the playing group is evident of that.
“Cassidy has really turned the men’s program around in his first year as head coach and the way his side played for each other throughout the tournament is testament to the work that he has put in on and off the field in the lead up to the tournament.
“Sione has also given a lot of his time to the Sevens program in Queensland, and he has helped develop some of our best players including the likes of newly crowned World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year – Charlotte Caslick.”
Parkinson also gave credit to the growing popularity and success of Rugby Sevens in Queensland Rugby.
“We’ve seen the club Sevens program in Queensland grow exponentially year-on-year and to have teams such as University of Queensland, Sunnybank, Brothers, Easts and GPS, as well as other regionally based sides, compete in domestic competitions regularly, it ensures that there is a grassroots pathway for players to progress through which greatly benefits our state programs.
"Tribe 7s have also been influential in the development of players and coaches and continue to provide opportunities for Queenslanders to test themselves in both domestic and international Sevens carnivals."
With the Youth National Sevens Championships fast approaching in December, focus will now turn to the Queensland Youth boy’s and girl’s squads who will also be in the hunt for silverware.
2016 Queensland Senior Sevens squads
Queensland Women's Red
Queensland Women's White
Amber Pilley - Tribe
Alana Elisaia - Redlands
Georgie Friedrichs - Tribe
Anna Inoke - Tribe
Tallisha Harden - Sunnybank
Emily Bass - Bond University
Laura Waldie - Tribe
Jessika Elliston - Palm Beach/Currumbin
Samantha Treherne - Sunnybank
Tayla Eldridge - Redlands
Shenae Csiesiolka - Tribe
Erica Fowler - UQ
Dom Du Toit - Tribe
Lori Cramer - UQ
Kiri Lingman - Sunnybank
Shannon Mato - Sunnybank
Lily Dick - Palm Beach/Currumbin
Danielle Close - Australian Defence Force
Marioulla Belessis - Tribe
Cheyanne Campbell - Redlands
Lauren Brown - Tribe
Katie Curtis - UQ
Rachel Crothers - Tribe
Elizabeth De Lange - UQ
Queensland Men's Red
Queensland Men's White
Tom Pincus - UQ
Tubinai Turaga - Wests
Niko Bueta - Brothers
Matt McCormick - UQ
Niko Tuvitu - Souths
Manasa Nasilivatu - Souths
Jack Curtin - UQ
Nicolas Herreros - Wests
Connor Clancy - UQ
Luke Evans - Bond University
Jock Campbell - UQ
Keeghan Sefton - Souths
Junior Laloifi - Sunnybank
George Morseu - Wests
Joe Pincus - UQ
Wyatt Setu - UQ
Josateki Lalagavesi - Souths
Shanan Goodman - UQ
Clifton Setu - UQ
David Yabsley Leone Cama - UQ
Tom Harvey - UQ
Byrone Hutchinson - Wests
Waylen Skipps - Bond University
QLD Women’s Red - Finished National Champions
Game 1: QLD (Red) 43 v SA 0
Game 2: QLD (Red) 52 v VIC 0
Game 3: QLD (Red) 39 v National Uni 0
Cup Quarter Final: QLD (Red) 41 v NSW (Light Blue) 0
Cup Semi Final: QLD (Red) 19 v QLD (White) 0
Cup Final: QLD (Red) 29 v NSW (Dark Blue) 17
QLD Women’s White - Finished 3rd overall
Game 1: ACT 15 v QLD 7 (White)
Game 2: WA 10 v QLD (White) 17
Game 3: NT 0 v QLD (White) 45
Cup Quarter Final: QLD (White) 22 v ACT 5
Cup Semi Final: QLD (Red) 19 v QLD (White) 0
3rd Place Playoff: QLD (White) 19 v Western Australia 5
QLD Men’s Red - Finished National Champions
Game 1: QLD (Red) 55 v SA 0
Game 2: QLD (Red) 45 v WA 0
Game 3: QLD (Red) 28 v QLD (White) 0
Cup Quarter Final: QLD (Red) 26 v National Indigenous 12
Cup Semi Final: QLD (Red) 21 v ACT 17
Cup Final: QLD Red 31 v National Universities 19
QLD Men’s White - Finished 8th overall
Game 1: QLD (White) 33 v WA 12
Game 2: QLD (White) 27 v SA 5
Game 3: QLD (Red) 28 v QLD (White) 0
Cup Quarter Final: Australia Universities 38 v QLD (White) 7
Plate Semi Final: QLD (White) 12 v NSW 33 7th
Place Playoff: National Indigenous 40 v QLD (White) 0
