Griffith’s sevens heaven

Silverware in reach with three-way tie at the top

GRIFFITH University have confirmed their status as championship contenders after winning their maiden Aon Uni Sevens Series tournament yesterday afternoon.

Griffith sealed the silverware in grand fashion, defeating heavyweights University of Queensland 28-7 at their St Lucia campus after accounting for Macquarie University 22-0 in the semi-finals.

“They (UQ) have created a bit of a fortress there, and everyone knows their reputation being absolutely undefeated last year, so it is something that we will savour for now and then we will get back to work,” Griffith assistant coach Setu Naseri said.

The outcome leaves Griffith, UQ and Macquarie all tied for the overall competition lead and well clear of fourthplaced University of Canberra after the third of five legs.

“It’s definitely pretty tight at the top end and there is a lot to play for in these last two tournaments,” Naseri added.

Next on the calendar is a visit to Bond University on October 6-7 before the October 20-21 season finale in Adelaide.

Griffith’s record of winning medals at every tournament this season looked in danger when they headed to Brisbane without Georgina Friedrichs and Diaz Seumanutafa (both injured) plus Lily Dick and Sam Treherne (national callups). However, the confidence in their depth was justified.

“Our girls who are new to this level of competition really put in and we got some great contributions from someone like Kahli Henwood who is in her first tournament,” Naseri said.

Captain Kiri Lingman was “really proud” of her team’s effort.

It was a tougher outing for Bond, who could only manage ninth place after beating struggling University of Melbourne 41-0 in their final playoff of the tournament.

Bond have dropped to equal sixth overall as a result.