For the second consecutive year, Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens star Charlotte Caslick has been shortlisted for the top individual honour in Women’s Sevens Rugby.
Caslick is one of four nominees representing three different nations for the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year Award, announced today.
The 20-year-old Queenslander was named alongside Russia’s Nadezhda Kudinova and New Zealand’s skipper Sarah Goss and prolific try-scorer Portia Woodman on the shortlist, with the winner set to be revealed at the World Rugby Awards dinner in London on November 1.
The Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens team made Australian Rugby history when they became the first ever female side to qualify for the Olympic Games, earning automatic qualification for Rio 2016 after finishing third in the 2014/15 World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series.
After making her Sevens debut in Amsterdam in 2013, Caslick has crossed for 29 tries in her 12 tournament appearances for her country and was instrumental in helping the team to four Finals appearances and a title in London this season.
Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens Coach Tim Walsh said Caslick is one of the most gifted attacking players in the Women’s Sevens game.
“Charlotte is one of the most dangerous players with ball in hand and a lot of our strategy is built around getting the ball to her in space,” said Walsh.
“This is much-deserved recognition for Charlotte and the fact that she’s been shortlisted for the award two years in a row is testament to her consistency and the way she’s adapted to playing the game professionally. She has embraced her role in the team and is just getting better and better.”
The World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year 2015 will be selected by an independent awards panel, which includes a representative from each of the teams on the series, the World Rugby Sevens Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien and the television commentators from the series.
Caslick is hoping to become the second Australian in as many years to win the award, after Emilee Cherry took the honours in 2014.
World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “Women’s Rugby Sevens has seen amazing development in recent years and is one of the fastest growing team sports in the world. The Women’s Sevens World Series has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2012 and the quality of rugby on show is seriously impressive.
“With sevens’ debut at the Olympic Games happening in Rio de Janeiro next year, these are exciting times for the sport and these players will no doubt all be striving for those elusive medals in 2016.”
