Sharni Williams was probably one of those annoying kids everyone can remember being at their school – the one who can turn their hand to pretty much anything.
The 28-year-old was a rising hockey star for the Canberra Strikers of the Australian Hockey League before deciding she wanted to try rugby, aged 20.
She instantly adapted and soon earned a first Wallaroos cap. She won the ACT Rugby Rookie of the Year in 2008 and is now an integeral part of the Brumbies and Australia women’s teams. She was co-captain as the sevens team won Olympic gold in Rio in the summer.
Williams is even a qualified mechanic. She’s in Dubai this week as Australia fine-tune their preparations ahead of the Dubai Rugby Sevens, and she spoke with Sport360.
How is the team looking coming into the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series season opener in Dubai?
It’s always different. After the Olympics and four years of preparations, a lot of teams have some fresh faces and new talent, so it’s pretty unpredictable this first round. You have to just focus on your own team rather than analyse other teams. I still think we’ve got an amazing team. We’ve got girls who have won a gold medal and some fresh faces as well.
Describe what it felt like to become the first rugby sevens Olympic champions?
It’s hard. It’s such an overwhelming feeling. Coming off the plane into Sydney from Rio, it was indescribable. And now seeing how much the game has grown, young girls aged eight coming up to you and saying they want to play rugby, it’s changed the whole face of women’s rugby in Australia but also around the world.
The UAE Rugby Federation are trying hard to develop girls rugby here in the Emirates. Even in a rugby-mad country like Australia, have you noticed a change since Rio?
It’s the fastest growing women’s sport in the world and we’re actually seeing the rise in popularity off the back of the Olympics, and the pathway for young girls is starting to be developed. You won’t lose them to other sport. They can continue with rugby instead of going off to different sports. It’s growing in Australia and throughout the world so it’s really exciting times for our sport.
Winning in Dubai last year, the overall Women’s Sevens Series and then the Olympics, was there a lot of pressure?
We have high expectations of each other as a team. When you set goals and have a coach like Tim Walsh who trusts and believes in you, when you achieve them it means so much more. Being a part of the World Series for four years and then winning it has been a goal for a long time. To win in Olympic year and then go in as number one with pressure, and people were asking do we feel it. The only pressure is what you put on yourselves.
After such a successful season, is there a danger of complacency creeping in?
This is the next step, thinking about that complacency. It’s not something we want. We had a surprise from Tim in training one day. We actually went skydiving. “Our heads are in the clouds” he was saying, so we need to be grounded and that was his way of doing that, putting us back on the ground. We’re young athletes who’d never experienced a gold medal before. While we’re in the moment we think about it but it’s a new season, and now we need to stay grounded. The game’s evolving and we need to evolve with it and set the standard. We can’t just think because of last year it will be the same again. It’s a new process, new teams.
You have a big target on your backs now. Do you need to start with a win in Dubai?
As an athlete you look forward to the next tournament but also the big picture. Winning Dubai would be amazing but it’s just the first process. We want to take another World Series and a lot of things go into it, but Dubai is what we’re looking at right now. We have a few faces who haven’t been part of our team or success so we’ll take them under our wing.
You’re obviously here on business, but do you get to enjoy Dubai too?
It’s been pretty awesome this time. We went up the Burj Khalifa so it’s been cool getting out and about. We came a day earlier to be able to do that, we went to a water park too so that was awesome. You’re co-captain of the team with Shannon Parry.
Do you feel a bit more responsibility or do you relish it?
That’s the sort of captain I am. I lead by example but don’t overthink things. We’ve got an amazing team, girls I’ve seen grow up, and now they’ve got their own leadership skills so I don’t always have to be the voice. Each person is a leader. They can speak up too. It’s not just me, it’s the whole team and that’s how we’re successful, everyone has a role.
It's selfie time with @sharni2388 and @myers182 at the #Dubai7s ☀️📷 pic.twitter.com/XX6xtcKrMI
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) November 30, 2016
It was actually hockey that drew me to rugby. I’d made it to the top there, I was part of the Strikers’ AHL League team and Hockeyroos (Australia national women’s hockey team) was on my radar, but I’d stopped enjoying hockey and I wanted to have fun. When I’m having fun I play my best sport so I got asked to play 15-a-side rugby and that’s where I started. I played four or five matches and made the Australian team, so it was a pretty quick transition, as it has been for a lot of girls in sevens from different sports. I hadn’t played much rugby, just touch and league, but never union. I first started playing at 20 so to see young girls now playing at six is really cool.
To be a role model is pretty amazing. Any advice for young girls wanting to take up the game?
Set and kick goals. Have fun, because if you’re not having fun you’re not going to play your best. Play without fear, don’t be afraid to make mistakes because you learn from them, and don’t be afraid to lose because your losses are what make you a better player and person.
