A rousing partnership of proven sevens stars and emerging talent today led the Queensland Reds to the ISPS HANDA Next Gen 7s trophy.
Sitting third entering the finals after three lead-in events, the Reds were transformed in three straight wins on finals day to take the trophy at Ballymore Stadium.
The final may have been won 31-26 over the ACT Brumbies but the match of the day was the earlier 28-26 overthrow of the frontrunning NSW Waratahs when the lead switched five times.
The injection of polish from Aussie Sevens aces Faith Nathan, Teagan Levi and Amahli Hala made all the difference for the Reds.
The big upside was the ensemble performance it generated with buy in from all the Queensland girls as they learned beside them.
Across the day, teenage rookie Charli Nikola scored two superb tries on the left touchline with a killer in-and-away at pace.
She is only a recent convert from touch. When other areas of her game catch up to her attack she will be an even bigger find.
Equally, headgeared Taleah Ackland’s knack for staying on her feet through contact and footy smarts set up the clutch try on half-time against NSW.
She powered ahead 10m with defenders draped all over her. The front-foot ball enabled Levi to put Nikola into space for the try.
Captain Sophie Duff’s composure was always a plus and her big cover tackle late in the match against NSW was typical.
Teen Kaelyn Passi saved her best until the final match with a dominant first half display. A strong counter-ruck with Levi turned over possession to generate the opening Emmisyn Wynyard try for 5-0.
Passi’s pass was impetus for 12-0 when Ackland put on a left-foot sidestep and steamed over. Passi dummied her way over from 40m out on half-time for a clear 19-5 lead over the Brumbies.
Tahlia Devine had a limited role but a big tackle from behind in the opening win over the Brumbies was much-needed.
None of it would have been possible without the example set by the drop-in stars of the day.
Nothing better exemplified what precision means in sevens than the opening seconds against NSW.
Hala caught the kick-off. When the ball reached Levi, she pulled a switch with Nathan that was more like a quarterback handing off to a running back. In a twinkle, Nathan was running in the try from 60m.
In the final match, she took the ball at halfback from a scrum win, spied a chance, put on a stutter step and dashed over from 45m.
Sydneysider Nathan only ever visits Queensland for holidays yet she played like she was born in Holland Park and has supported the Maroons at State of Origin time all her life.
The flyer, who has scored 126 tries in World Rugby’s HSBC SVNS series for Australia, is a highlights reel every time she plays.
You could take your pick today when she mixed her roles between fast finisher, controller or halfback.
Her clutch play was a brilliant ball-and-all tackle to hold up Biola Dawa over the tryline when the Brumbies winger had beaten two defenders and looked certain to score in the decider.
Hala was everywhere with her workrate…sure passing, hustle in defence, short darts in attack, general glue for the team.
Levi was the most aggressive player in the middle all day. She put on heavy hits in defence, distributed to teammates, speared ahead with bursts of power or ran from halfway for her own try.
There was huge value for her in goalkicking under competition pressure when it will be so important in Dubai and Cape Town later this year with the Australian team.
She slotted two from acute angles amongst her conversions. At kickoffs, she experimented going long and had some short 10m variations as well.
Queenslanders Kahli Henwood, Sidney Taylor and Kaitlin Shave, all in the national program, had key involvements for the Brumbies as well.
It was a day of great value for the nation’s emerging sevens players as well as a primer for the country’s best as another HSBC SVNS series looms.
