UQ scores silver in home Uni 7s round

The University of Queensland has regained the lead in the Aon Uni 7s Series competition following a second place finish at its home event.

UQ claimed a silver medal in Round 3 – hosted by the UQ Rugby Club at the UQ Sport Athletics Centre – after losing to Griffith University 28-7 in the gold medal match.

The defeat was Team UQ’s second loss to Griffith for the tournament, with the Queensland university prevailing 10-7 in their Pool B encounter on the opening day.

UQ co-captain Marioulla Belessis said her side didn’t execute its game plan in the final.

“I think we gave away way too many penalties which put us on the back foot,” she said.

“Griffith played a really physical game so props to them – they did really well.”

UQ’s path to the gold medal match came on the back of victories over The University of Melbourne (36-0), University of New England (40-0) and University of Tasmania (24-5) in the pool stages, and The University of Sydney (22-12) in the semi-final.

Team UQ’s second place sees them sit equal-top with Griffith and Macquarie University on 54 points with two rounds to play.

Belessis said the squad is focussed on returning to its winning ways.

“We’re hungrier than ever so we’re ready to come out at Bond and really rip in,” she said.

“We’ve been really hard on ourselves to make sure that we keep our training up because our games won’t be up to the standard if our training is not.”

Uni 7s highlights from UQ’s home round will be broadcast on Fox Sports in October.

UQ’s two-day carnival also featured the inaugural Queensland Premier Rugby 7s tournament, with Sunnybank claiming the opening round of four-leg competition.

2018 Aon Uni 7s Series – Round 3 Results

Pool B:

UQ dft. The University of Melbourne (36-0)

UQ dft. University of New England (40-0)

UQ dft. University of Tasmania (24-5)

Griffith University dft. UQ (10-7)

Semi-Final:

UQ dft. The University of Sydney (22-12)

Gold Medal Match:

Griffith University dft. UQ (28-7)

Series Standings

1) The University of Queensland (54 points)

2) Macquarie University (54)

3) Griffith University (54)

4) University of Canberra (36)

5) The University of Sydney (32)

6) Bond University (24)

7) University of New England (24)

8) University of Tasmania (24)

9) The University of Adelaide (22)

10) The University of Melbourne (6)

Series Fixtures

Round 4 – Bond University, Gold Coast (October 6-7)

Round 5 – The University of Adelaide, Adelaide (October 20-21)

Media: Jamie Mitchell, UQ Sport, JamieM@uqsport.com.au, 0423 785 752; Reg Tayler, UQ Rugby Football Club, regtayler@uqrugbyclub.com, 0407 302 911.