University of Queensland were crowned tournament champions for the third-straight time, claiming a 12-5 victory over Macquarie University in the Gold Medal match on Sunday morning.
Having already claimed the Launceston and Macquarie legs UQ kept the ball rolling at their home ground, going undefeated to secure the third Aon Uni 7s tournament.
The victory all but ensures that UQ will take out the inaugural Aon Uni 7s Series with one round remaining at Bond University kicking off on Friday 29 September.
Queensland’s three university sides now sit in first, second and fourth after Bond University finished the tournament with the bronze medal and Griffith finished seventh.
Gold medal match
Spurred on by a large home crowd, UQ withstood an early onslaught from Macquarie before Lily Dick scooted away for the opening try.
UQ took a 7-0 lead into half time.
After the break Aussie Sevens star Emily Cherry extended UQ’s lead to 12-0.
Any hopes Macquarie had of a come-from-behind victory were squashed by UQ’s enthusiastic defensive effort which held firm till after the final siren had sounded.
University of Queensland player Grace Kaihu said: “It feels pretty good. This tournament was about backing up and working hard for each other and that’s what we did in the end.“Usually if things start getting messy we just try and keep composed. We have experienced players like Emilee Cherry out there who keep us composed.
“It’s pretty crazy (to win three tournaments), we still have to come out though and play like we have nothing to lose as we know the other teams are chasing us.”
Bronze medal match
Earlier in the day, Bond University secured the bronze medal with a 19-12 win over the University of Canberra.
Bond have taken home the silver medal at both of the opening two tournaments and looked unlikely to claim bronze when the final siren sounded in the bronze medal match on Sunday.
That was until Katie Heffernan, dotted down after the final siren had sounded to ensure Bond would claim their third-straight medal finish.
Bond will host the fourth and final leg of the tournament and will be hopeful eager to improve on their two silver medals and one bronze.
Aon Uni 7s Ladder after round three:
1st: University of Queensland 60 points
2nd: Bond University 52 points
3rd: Macquarie University 48 points
4th: Griffith University 38 points
5th: University of Canberra 34 points
6th: University of Adelaide 30 points
7th: University of New England 26 points
8th: University of Tasmania 24 points
