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Another first for Australian women's Rugby Sevens

(SBS World News Radio:) Fresh off winning their first World Series, then an Olympic gold medal, Australia's women's Rugby Sevens team will play in an expanded, first-of-its-kind Sevens tournament in Australia next year.

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Another first for Australian women's Rugby Sevens

"We love rugby!"

Previously the mantra of men, that chant is coming from a group of 20 young girls on the playing surface at an empty Sydney Football Stadium.

Joining them are members of Australia's women's Rugby Sevens side.

One of the team's stars, Charlotte Caslick, is familiar with scrums, but being swamped by dozens of adoring young fans while signing autographs takes getting accustomed to.

"Do you want your pen back?"

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The Women's Sevens team won gold in the sport's inaugural appearance on the Olympic stage earlier this month.

As a result, almost overnight, Caslick and her teammates have become pioneering role models for a generation of young girls picking up a rugby ball for the first time.

"I've, obviously, had so many opportunities myself, and I'm just glad that I can, somehow, pass that down."

The Australian Rugby Union realises the best way to facilitiate that process is to get the national women's team playing on home soil.

It has announced the world and Olympic champions will feature alongside their male counterparts in an expanded three-day Sydney Sevens tournament next year.

It will be the first time the nation's top women's side will compete for World Series points in Australia, an opportunity Caslick is savouring.

"I think it's just a great way to keep the momentum rolling from the World Series and now the Olympics. And then this tournament's going to be massive. I'm so excited, and I'm sure the other girls in our team are so excited to play, because there's nothing like playing in front of your friends and family."

The man who coached the national women's side to the World Series and Olympics is Tim Walsh, himself a former captain of Australia's men's Sevens team.

Walsh says, with the Sydney Sevens tournament next year, anything is possible for women's rugby.

"It's going to expose and grow the women's game that much more, and, for us, especially, having the World Series and then the gold medal, to play at home in a round, or in a World Series, is just ... oh, it's so exciting."

The game is already the fastest-growing women's sport in Australia.

Now, it has a whole team of stars for young girls to admire.

Many who play in the team had never kicked a ball or made a tackle as recently as four or five years ago.

Now, they are world champions.

Charlotte Caslick says she hopes their success can show the stars of the future that it is okay to dream.

"Looking back, if I had people like myself and Emily (Cherry) and Shannon (Parry) to look up to when I was their age, I probably would have started playing rugby a hell of a lot sooner."

 


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