RUGBY’S CLOSE SHAVE
GIVE Kaitlin Shave the ball in open space and there’ll be no stopping her.
The rugby sevens rookie could well be an x-factor for the under-17 Queensland Red team in the national championships at Ballymore given her sprinting background.
Shave was the under-16 Australian champion at 100m distance last year but decided to take a break from athletics
after nationals in March this year to focus on her final year of high school at Clairvaux MacKillop College at Upper Mount Gravatt.
Along the way, some sevens appearances for her
school suddenly led to her Aon Uni Sevens Series debut for Bond University in October, after being recommended by Queensland touch football teammate Marama Thomas.
“That was my first actual rugby sevens comp,” Shave said. “I was really, really nervous … once I made my first few tackles, it was a really fun experience playing against harder girls because you got to see how good girls are actually in rugby sevens.”
Shave, 17, has taken such a liking to the sport that she has decided to “give that a bit of a crack first before I go back” to the athletics track.
Her undoubted strength on the rugby paddock is sheer pace, and some sizzling tries could secure post-tournament selection in the Australian youth under-18 team.
She will line up in Brisbane with Aon teammates Taylor Fenton and Tarni Peepe in a stacked Queensland Red side.
Male and female teams at open and under-17 level will vie for Australia-wide glory from today to Sunday.