Heavyweights top national women's XV pools

Sydney will take on ACT in their bid for a hat-trick of nationals titles, with the two heavyweights topping their pools on Saturday.

It will be the second year in a row the two teams have played off for the title, with Sydney a runaway winner.

A friendly in Canberra a fortnight ago was much closer than last year’s decider, setting up an intriguing title fight.Sydney was the first team through to the decider after a 13-0 win over Western Australia in their final match.

The WA side went agonisingly close to toppling the heavyweights, trailing just 3-0 until the final 10 minutes of the match, when a last-gasp Sydney try extended their lead.

The Brumbies women edged out Queensland in the final match of the day, with a try late in the piece giving them a two-point lead that was ultimately enough.

ADFRU notched their first win of the tournament earlier in the day, beating the SA Barbarians 24-0.

NSW Country beat Victoria 22-7 in the other Pool B match, leaving the southerners winless after the pool stages.

Results

Pool A

ADFRU 24 - South Australia Barbarians 0

Sydney 13 - Western Australia 0

Pool B

NSW Country 22 - Victoria 7

ACT 5 - Queensland 3

Buildcorp National Women's XV Championships Pool matches will be 30-minute halves.