Super W: Scot Sinclair relishing chance to pull on maroon jersey

Fri, Feb 22, 2019, 1:59 AM
Emma Greenwood
by Emma Greenwood
Newly appointed Queensland Reds coach Moana Virtue has named an impressive line-up to face the Melbourne Rebels in the opening round of Super W on Sunday night. Ten new faces will start for Queensland while 13 will return for their second season.

She hails from a town of roughly 5000 souls more than 16,000km away but Eilidh Sinclair could become a poster girl for the growing success of the Super W competition.

Sinclair, who originally headed to Australia from Scotland to take part in the Aon Uni 7s competition, stayed on to trial for the Queensland Women's XV and will run out in maroon against the Rebels Women in Melbourne on Sunday.

The 23-year-old, who has 15 Six Nations caps for the Scots, is part of a strong Queensland side named by coach Moana Virtue for the season-opener.

"I'm super excited and a little bit nervous. I didn't expect to get as far as I have in this team," Sinclair said.

"All the girls that have come across are such great players and it's an absolute honour to now wear the same jersey and play with them."

Sinclair, who turned out for the University of Tasmania in the Aon Uni 7s, has earnt her place in the opening round, slogging out a pre-season in the Brisbane heat to show how serious she was about her sport.

Sinclair."It was pretty hard to begin with but I think I've acclimatised," Sinclair said.

"I've been here for a while now, so I'm getting better. I love the weather.

"And I love the different style of rugby as well. Obviously with it being a bit more wet and windy back home you have to have a different style, you have to have a different skill set almost.

"I'm from a very small town in Scotland called Auchterarder but I went to university in Edinburgh.

"The reason I came to Australia was I was originally attracted by the Aon University Sevens - probably my preference when it comes to rugby - but having experienced the XVs side now in Australia, I'm really enjoying it."

The large base of women playing rugby has led to a high standard of play, Sinclair said.

"I think the standard of players here is a lot higher than what I'm used to.

"There's obviously a lot more girls playing rugby here considering it's a bigger country and I think the competition is going to bring out some superstars of the future."

Sinclair joined Queensland teammates and coaches at Thursday's announcement of St George Bank as a naming rights partner of the club, something the Scot praised.

"It's refreshing to see the bigger organisations now interested in the women's game and I think it's growing a lot for the public eye as well," she said.

"We're only going to grow and get better and St George has done great things for rugby so it's exciting to see how that will now transfer to the women's game."

Queensland captain Kiri Lingman, who will come off the bench against the Rebels, said she expected plenty from the Melbourne side despite a plethora of new faces.

"I think they'll be pretty good to go and fired up," Lingman said.

"They had a pretty good pre-season match against the Brumbies, which we saw a few things from.

"We definitely aren't going to take it lightly, which we aren't with any game, and we'll be ready to go.

"We know that they've been working just as hard as everyone and with new-look teams, there's so much to expect each year."

The Queensland women's XV take on the Rebels women on Sunday, February 24 at Box Hill Rugby Club GIO Stadium kicking off at 3:00pm AEDT, LIVE on Kayo Sports and streamed on RUGBY.com.au.

 

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