Sydney win Australian XVs title

Sydney beat ACT in the final.

The Nationals are an essential art of Australia's preparations for the World Cup. Coach Paul Verrell said at the start of the weekend that “The Championship is a great opportunity for players to show us how they have improved over the last 12 months. No position in an Australian squad is guaranteed and we want to see a strong competition for positions in an exciting year for the Buildcorp Wallaroos. The Black Ferns are going to be a good challenge for us and it is going to be a good opportunity to build upon our depth as we edge closer to next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland.”

Sponsored by the new women's national team sponsor, Buildcorp, the Australian Nationals has an exhausting schedule that requires the state teams to play four games in three days. Sydney beat the Defence Forces, Victoria and Western Australia on Friday and Saturday to top their pool, while ACT (captained by Louise Burrows) topped a pool containing South Australia, Queensland and NSW Country.

Sydney capped off their imperious run to the grand final finishing undefeated in the tournament with a 35-3 victory over runners-up for the second year in a row, ACT. The game had a nail-biting first half. Sydney’s Hanna Sio crossed the line first after some well-worked phases, and captain Ash Hewson converted. Sydney followed with more successful passages of play but squandered opportunities near the tryline. ACT regained composure forcing a penalty on the buzzer to reduce the gap to four points. Sydney fired after half time, establishing their intentions early with Hewson dotting down seconds after the kick-off. A barrage of three more clinically executed Sydney tries followed as the young ACT team struggled to regain control.

The award of Player of the Championship went to Sydney’s number 8 Victoria Latu, capping off a triumphant tournament for the team.

Sydney Captain Ash Hewson said: “I’m so proud of our girls. The camaraderie in this team is unbelievable and I think that’s why we came away with the win, because we just lift for one another. It’s happened every day this tournament, which led us to the final. ACT were very physical, especially in the first 10-15 minutes when they had us on the back foot and were playing with very good structure. We were frantic, but managed to compose ourselves, pull it together and come away with the win.”After the final Paul Verrell said: “Sydney had some experienced players who clicked into gear and their reserves added to the team dynamic really well. However ACT really put them under pressure, and the score didn’t reflect their passion and effort. There will be a lot of Wallaroos selection headaches now. There’s some really great young rugby talent in this country. There’s a lot of passion and the skill level has jumped in recent years so it’s great for Australian women’s rugby.”In the play-off for 3rd and 4th places, QLD overcame a tough WA side, while Country NSW won the Plate against ADFRU, and VIC triumphed over SA to win.Results

7th place:VIC 27 (Ashley Masters, Kereni Nabalarua, Anita Brickle, Samantha Treherne 2 tries; Ashley Masters con) defeated SA 5 (Eva Karpani try)Plate Final:Country NSW 17 (Annika Jamieson, Mele Kava Palu tries; Asleigh Walker 2 cons, pen) defeated ADFRU 03rd PlaceQLD 16 (Zahara Temara, Kirby Sefo tries; Zahara Temara 2 pens) defeated WA 7 (Caitlyn Edwards try; Kendra Fell con)Final:Sydney 35 (Ash Hewson, Hanna Sio, Evelyn Horomia, Kim Davey, Alexandra Sulusi tries; Ash Hewson 2 cons; Ash Hewson 2 pens) defeated ACT 3 (Tayla Stanford 3 pen)

Pool games:Sydney 38 (Ash Hewson, Hanna Sio, Shontelle Stowers 2, Victoria Latu tries; Ash Hewson 2, Chloe Leaupepe, Alexandra Sulusi cons) defeated ADFRU 5 (Amy Carpenter try)​WA 19 (Caitlyn Edwards 2, Te Rau Pasene-Grennell tries; Hayley Barclay 2 conc) defeated Victoria 0​NSW Country 5 (Kate Gilbert) defeated QLD 0​ACT 24 (Paremo Marsh, Shellie Milward, Kasey Dragisic, Irene MacArthur tries; Sarah Carter 2 cons) defeated SA 0Sydney 36 (Ash Hewson, Victoria Latu 2, Emily Chancellor, Cobie-Jane Morgan, Iliseva Batibasaga tries; Ash Hewson 3 cons) Victoria 0WA 10 (Kendra Fell try; Hayley Barclay pen; Hayley Barclay con) defeated ADFRU 0ACT 22 (Tayla Stanford 2, Louise Burrows, Shellie Milward tries; Nikki D'Aquino con) defeated Country 0QLD 39 (Siniva Ah-Ki 3, Kirby Sefo 2, Mele Akuila, Ana Fotu tries; Zahara Temara 2 cons) defeated SA 0ADFRU 17 (Mollie Gray, Laura Fletcher, Vika Pinomi tries; Vika Pinomi con) defeated VIC 10 (Oneata Schwalger, Samantha Treherne tries)Country NSW 24 (Sarah Riordan, Tahlia Goldsmith, Sarah Halvorsen, Inge Visser tries; Britney Duff, Ashleigh Walker cons) defeated SA 7 (Anja Halstead try; Leesa Kenny conSydney 25 (Victoria Latu, Katrina Barker, Shontelle Stowers tries; Ash Hewson 2 cons; Ash Hewson 2 pens) defeated WA 0QLD  19 (Siniva Ah-Ki 2, Charlotte Kennington tries; Zahara Temara, Tallisha Harden cons) defeated ACT 10 (Kate Brown, Kasey Dragisic tries)