Try-hungry winger Caitlin Urwin excelled with two hat-tricks on the Queensland Reds’ visit to Sydney for today’s Next Gen 7s.
Urwin showed her full range of skills as a finisher on the right wing as the Reds mixed a big win with two tight losses in the second leg of the series.
The Reds opened with a tight 24-17 loss to the NSW Waratahs after leading twice in the first half.
A 32-14 win over the ACT Brumbies was comprehensive before another hard-fought clash against the Waratahs became a close 31-24 loss.
Urwin, who attended the Wallaroos squad camp in Canberra last week, relished the space of sevens and so many chances to get involved.
Her opening try against the Waratahs in Game One was all leg drive and determination as she carried a NSW defender for 10m before grounding the ball.
Urwin was the finisher for the next Reds’ try after Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea burst through. The excellent long-range strike involved touches by most of the team before Urwin dotted down for the five-pointer and the 12-7 half-time lead.
The production line of Queensland sevens stars is certainly healthy because the rival who hurt them most was Teagan Levi, the Gold Coaster seconded to the Waratahs from the Australian squad.
Levi scored a 90m solo try, scored a second with a step inside and bumped and offloaded to set up another to give NSW a 19-12 lead.
A good Carys Dallinger tackle got the ball back for the Reds late in the game. It was the fuel for a third Urwin try.
The big win over the Brumbies was clearcut from the start with Lefau-Fakaosilea taking a quick tap that set up Urwin on the outside.
Lefau-Fakaosilea’s return from long-term injury in Lennox Head was encouraging. In Sydney, her workrate was up and so were her decisive involvements.
The Reds went to 15-0 off a rehearsed play. From a quick scrum win, Lefau-Fakaosilea veered right to the shortside, committed the hesitant defence and put Rhani Hagan over.
The Reds learnt from their restart blunders in Lennox Head. They were far slicker in this area.
Piper Flynn got up high on one second half restart to palm the ball back to the Reds.
It paid off with Urwin beating her opposite number one-on-one for her second try on the other touchline. Urwin outsprinted the cover defence for her final try and a second hat-trick.
Flynn must have felt all the action was heading to the right wing, rather her left side, so she got involved infield for her own…a quick tap effort for the final try.
The Reds now regroup for the third leg of the series in Canberra on March 22.
