Women’s Rugby 7s coming to the Illawarra
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2025 8:56 am
Womens PromoIllawarra District Rugby Union (IDRU) has announced the introduction of women’s and girls' Rugby 7s to their representative program. Junior and Senior teams from the Illawarra region will now have the opportunity to participate in one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Junior girls' U14s and U16s teams will be selected and compete in a 10 week competition run by NSW Rugby starting mid July. The senior women’s team will play on the Rugby 7s circuit competing in various tournaments around the state, which runs from October to February
Program director Ron Davis said “since the introduction of Rugby 7s as an phone number library Olympic sport there has been a significant increase in interest from women and girls to get involved. The Illawarra region has for a long time had incredibly strong women’s and girls sporting culture. Two of the current Australian Women’s 7s team players, Nicole Beck and Emma Tonegato, are both from the Illawarra and both girls had a strong touch football back ground before switching over to Rugby 7s. I don’t think it will be long before we see more girls from the area playing around the world”
Long serving player, coach and administrator Tammy Fletcher has been appointed women’s program coordinator. Tammy said “Girls and women now have the opportunity to be a part of the very foundations that bring Rugby 7s to the Illawarra. The opportunities and pathways that will open up from the skill and talent that’s discovered from this development program is exciting."
"As a current 7s player, playing in Sydney, I am excited to be a part of this campaign. I’m proud to be involved with this development and I can’t wait to get started. Rugby combines an array of skills in order to be successful on the field and is the most unbiased sport when it comes to its participants. Rugby requires players of every size, speed and capability and each one of these attributes is considered a key element to the game” she said.
Program director Ron Davis said “since the introduction of Rugby 7s as an phone number library Olympic sport there has been a significant increase in interest from women and girls to get involved. The Illawarra region has for a long time had incredibly strong women’s and girls sporting culture. Two of the current Australian Women’s 7s team players, Nicole Beck and Emma Tonegato, are both from the Illawarra and both girls had a strong touch football back ground before switching over to Rugby 7s. I don’t think it will be long before we see more girls from the area playing around the world”
Long serving player, coach and administrator Tammy Fletcher has been appointed women’s program coordinator. Tammy said “Girls and women now have the opportunity to be a part of the very foundations that bring Rugby 7s to the Illawarra. The opportunities and pathways that will open up from the skill and talent that’s discovered from this development program is exciting."
"As a current 7s player, playing in Sydney, I am excited to be a part of this campaign. I’m proud to be involved with this development and I can’t wait to get started. Rugby combines an array of skills in order to be successful on the field and is the most unbiased sport when it comes to its participants. Rugby requires players of every size, speed and capability and each one of these attributes is considered a key element to the game” she said.