Competing in an annual World Series event, the Aussie 7s Women’s team is going from strength to strength on the international stage.

With various countries playing host, the Dubai leg of the World Series event was supported as part of the Green2Gold2Great funding program and featured both a main squad and developing ‘A’ team.

Showcasing the likes of Commonwealth Games stars such as Charlotte Caslick and Sharni Smale, the series also provided opportunities for emerging talent including Piper Simons, Mackenzie Davis, and Anaia Cruickshank – each Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallists.

Having claimed the past three Dubai 7’s trophies, the Aussie 7’s continued their dominance at the event, beating New Zealand 26 – 19 in the final. This win followed a successful campaign in the Oceania 7’s Championships, were the team also claimed victory in the tournament.

Travelling and playing alongside the main squad, the Australia A team finished runners-up in their draw of the competition, falling by a few points to a combined NZ and English team.

However, the team gained valuable experience, playing in front of a 30,000 strong crowd at the tournament’s main stadium during the final.

Whilst the result didn’t go Australia’s way, Cruickshank said, “the experience showed the high standard of opens women’s rugby sevens and although not getting the final result we worked hard for, it inspired all of us to improve and be stronger, fitter and more strategic for next time.”

“Experiences like this help to open my eyes to the high level of athletic ability that elite athletes maintain and push me to strive to reach those higher standards.

All of the trainings, trips and camps over the 2023 season have enabled me to develop my skills at a much higher level and achieve the goals that we set out as a team.”

Following a huge year of competition, including the Commonwealth Youth Games in August, Simons said, “having the opportunity to play amongst and against such high-level players was awesome. The experience of playing against international competition was extremely eye-opening to the standard of rugby 7s globally and what it takes to go up against the best.”

“Experiences like this Dubai trip greatly enable me to see the eye-opening and unique opportunities that are available within rugby 7s.

Being within the environment of such quality talent further fuelled my passion for the game, allowing me to see what it takes to get to such a high level and allowing me to develop as a player through increased exposure and an incredibly high standard.”

With the Green2Gold2Great program supporting athletes at home and abroad, the support for Australia A’s rugby 7’s is paramount to achieving medal winning performances for Australia at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

With 2026 on the horizon for the young athletes, providing the opportunity to compete against international competition will strengthen Australia’s teams and help to maintain its status as the number one medal nation.