Australia’s gold medal-winning Women's Sevens team has been nominated for Sports Team of the Year Award in the 2016 AIS Sports Performance Awards, with Charlotte Caslick nominated for the 2016 ABC Sports Personality of the Year title.
In an historic year for Women’s Rugby, the Australian Sevens team became the first Australian team to win a Sevens World Series after a dominant year that saw them notch three World Series tournament victories.
With the No.1 world ranking, they went to Rio as favourites and delivered spectacularly. The Olympic gold medal match against New Zealand will be remembered as a seminal moment in Australian Rugby history, where the team rose to the occasion, coming back from an early 5-0 deficit to beat New Zealand 24-17 and claim the first Olympic gold medal in Rugby Sevens.
“It’s a fantastic honour and a real credit to Australian Rugby and the whole program and very well deserved,” head coach, Tim Walsh said.
“To go into to win a World Series championship and then go into the Olympics as favourites and come away with a gold medal is a pretty high achievement.”After scoring seven tries in six matches during the Rio tournament, Charlotte Caslick was named best female player of 2016 Olympics, firmly establishing herself as one of the most dominant women’s Sevens players in the world.
Caslick’s nomination for 2016 ABC Sports Personality of the Year comes after she was also nominated by World Rugby for the 2016 Women’s Sevens Player of the Year Award.
If she were named 2016 ABC Sports Personality of the Year, it would mark two years in a row for Rugby, after the Wallabies David Pocock took the gong last year. “She’s been fantastic. Her maturity and mental toughness really shone through in that Olympic final,” Walsh said.
“I could sit here and tell you about what everyone brings to the team, every single one of them has a massive impact and a major role to play that allows us to get the results.
“The team is everything, what allows Charlotte to do what she does is because of what everyone else does.”
The Steelers had defended their gold medal from London 2012, but were able to do that without taking on the mighty US team. Ryley Batt starred for the Steelers in the Rio tournament, scoring 27 of his 158 goals in the gold medal match. Public voting is now open for the 2016 AIS Sport Performance Awards. Go to:
