Player of the tournament Charlotte Caslick was jubilant after guiding her Queensland Red side to a clinical Cup Final win over a tough New South Wales Blue side (19-0) at the Institute of Sport in Canberra on Sunday.
Caslick, also celebrating her 19th birthday, played an instrumental role throughout the weekend, with National Women's Rugby Sevens Head Coach Tim Walsh selecting her as the best on ground.
"We only came together as a group on Friday which was pretty hard, but I've played with a few of them before. We did so well though and dug so deep," said Caslick.
"The Cup Final was so tough. NSW are a physical side and we're a lot smaller but we were on top throughout and I think we deserved the win."
Shannon Waru broke the deadlock in a tense first period. Australia and Queensland centre Emilee Cherry scored a wonder try to put her side two scores ahead midway through the second half and Caslick herself wrapped up the win with two minutes to go. Captain Shannon Parry was presented with the trophy by Walsh.
Defending champions ACT bowed out at the Cup Semi-Final stage after losing to Queensland Red (10-24) but bounced back against Western Australia to take third. Kelly Godwin, Sharni Williams, Alicia Quirk and Anthea Clarke crossed over to secure a thumping 38-0 win.
The National Indigenous team capped a memorable weekend, finishing fifth after beating a young Barbarians side (33-5) in the Plate Final. Simone Smith at the double.
Final standings: 1. Queensland Red, 2. New South Wales Blue, 3. ACT, 4. Western Australia, 5. National Indigenous, 6. Barbarians, 7. Queensland White, 8. South Australia, 9. New South Wales White, 10. Australian Services, 11. Victoria, 12. Northern Territory
Player of the Tournament: Charlotte Caslick (Queensland Red)
Selected results from Sunday, 9 March at the AIS, Canberra
Cup Final: New South Wales Blue 0-19 Queensland Red
3rd/4th place play-off: Western Australia 0-38 ACT
Plate Final: National Indigenous 33-5 Barbarians
7th/8th place play-off: South Australia 0-24 Queensland White
Bowl Final: Australian Services 10-15 New South Wales White
11th/12th place play-off: Northern Territory 12-45 Victoria
Go to http://www.rugby.com.au/sevens/Tournaments/Domestic.aspx for all results from the weekend matches.
