The season that was: Romas finish strong with a dominant win over WA

Image: AJ Walwyn 

Season 2022 of the University Women’s Rugby Sevens Series came to an end this past weekend, with the Adelaide University Romas finishing with a win.

Adelaide was home to the first round of the season, where seven university teams kicked started their campaign.

Veteran Alice Gregory showed her class, but it was a breakout weekend for student athlete Tiara Hatchard.

Part of the university’s high performance basketball team, the AU Waatus, her speed down the line gave the Romas a huge advantage.

Suffering a few heavy defeats to Bond and Melbourne University, the Romas were able to bounce back in the playoff final to secure fifth spot after defeating the University of Newcastle.

The Romas first road trip was in Round two with Marcus Blackburn’s side travelling to Newcastle.

Newcastle got their revenge after the playoff final loss in Adelaide, defeating the Romas by 5 points.

Hatchard continued to impress with multiple tries across the weekend, with Nathan and Sadler also adding their name to the score sheet.

A draw against the University of Sydney and defeats to Western Australia and Canberra placed the Romas in last place overall, missing out on finals by two points.

After a week off in October, the Romas looked to bounce back in the last round of the season travelling to Canberra.

A defeat in the first game against Newcastle wasn’t the way the team would have like to start, although Lilly Rydon was brilliant with her try and conversion.

But they came out firing against the hosts, With Gregory, Hatchard and Captain Ellie Konopka combing for a try each with a 17-5 win.  

The Romas last game for the day saw us miss out on back-to-back wins, losing by 10 points to Western Australia.

Day two of the last round started with a heavy loss to Bond University, but the Romas made a big statement defeating the University of Sydney by 21 points.

Rydon led with four conversions and Gregory with two tries. Hatchard, Stanley and experienced veteran Zahn Anthony also contributed to the points.

A loss to Melbourne in the last game, cemented a playoff final spot for the Romas who would face the University of Western Australia.

The Romas must have been fired up after their day one loss to the Western Australians, as they came out strong with a 17-0 win.

Alice Gregory enjoyed her try scoring form with another double, while Mackenzie Sadler added to the points tally to secure a fifth-place spot.

An exciting end to the season for our Romas, who finished sixth overall.