Coast pair solid but Uni of Qld dominant

BOND and Griffith have made it a Gold Coast rugby double podium at the second round of the Women’s University Sevens Series.

Neither, however, could stop the powerful University of Queensland outfit that backed up its Round 1 success with a gold medal at Sydney’s Macquarie University campus.

UQ have won all 10 of their games in the inaugural series.

The Brisbane campus again won against Bond in the final.

But on this occasion it had been Bond who looked set to score top billing when they opened up a 17-10 lead, only for UQ to score two late tries – including one to Dutch star Bodil Van Wijnbergen after the final siren – to snatch victory 22-17.

Bond marquee Charlotte Caslick lauded her group’s improvement but believes there is more to be done as they try to close UQ’s overall points lead.

“It’s a four-series tournament and UQ obviously have four points up on us now so hopefully next week we can finish strong and win that early game in the final, that would be ideal,” she said.

Bond only made the final thanks to a fast-finishing showing against rivals Griffith in a 17-10 semi-final scoreline.

Griffith recovered to clinch the bronze with a big 20-5 win over hosts Macquarie.

Placings fifth to eighth went as follows: University of Adelaide, University of Canberra, University of New England, and University of Tasmania.

The series this weekend heads to UQ’s fields before finishing at Bond on September 29-30.