SHE battled heat, sunburn and sapping humidity, but wearing the green and gold of the Australian Development team while doing so at the Hottest Sevens in the World tournament made it worthwhile for Darcie Morrison.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The CSU student was part of the national outfit which won the women’s crown at the annual Darwin rugby sevens event.
Morrison had not initially expected to be playing for the Australian Development team at the two-day tournament last week, but she soon found her stride.
She played alongside contracted players including Olympic gold medallist Evania Pelite.
“I didn’t get the the call up until about two weeks before. I’d actually signed up with Sydney Uni because I thought they weren’t going to ask me,” Morrison said.
“So it was a real nice surprise. I am definitely feeling more comfortable playing with them now. When I went to the Central Coast [last October] I felt nervous, I felt out of my league.
“Now I do feel more comfortable. As the tournament went on, I felt like I was playing a lot better football.
“Instead of going through all the processes in my mind first, it became more natural.”
One of 12 teams in the competition, which included outfits from the Northern Territory, Queensland, New Souths Wales and Singapore, the Australian Development side were the second seeds behind two-time defending champions Tribe 7s.
But Morrison’s team quickly showed they would provide stiff competition for the overall honours as they opened with a 55-0 victory over Blackout.
That was followed by another 55-0 result against Landrover Goannas and a 22-0 win over CQ Dingoes to finish top of their pool. But while the wins were comfortable, the conditions in Darwin were not.
“I think we had about 85 and above percent humidity most days, but luckily it was sort of rainy and overcast, it could’ve been worse,” the Forbes native said.
“When the sun did come out it was so muggy. I think the temperature was around 35 degrees, but due to the humidity it felt a lot hotter than that, it felt around 40 degrees.”
In the quarter-finals Morrison’s outfit posted another comprehensive win – beating Singapore Select 40-0 – but that set up a semi-final meeting with the strong Sydney Uni side.
The students pushed Australia Development all the way and were the first rival to put points on them during the tournament.
It came down to the final play of the match, with Morrison’s team prevailing 14-10.
It earned them a place in the decider, which against saw the Australian Development team display their class with a 35-0 win over Iconz Sevens.
Morrison’s next sevens challenge will be a two-day tournament in Japan in February.
