University of Tasmania has marked its improvement in the rugby’s burgeoning sevens game with a surging run home on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After a sluggish start to the final round of the National University Sevens Series – in just the competition’s second year – the UTAS Lions nearly stole fifth spot in Adelaide.
It would have bettered their strong performance in the opening round in August on home soil of Hobart.
The first and fifth rounds of this campaign were also better than any of the last season’s four rounds.
The Tasmanian rookies could not avoid bottom place in 2017, but this season the Lions tied for seventh out of the 10 university-based sides.
The Lions this year never finished worse than eighth.
Losses on Saturday to Macquarie University 20-5, Sydney University 24-21 and University of Adelaide 34-5 had the Lions condemned for last spot in their pool.
But a turnaround from coach Luke Burgess’s side on Sunday picked up a 19-5 win over University of Melbourne and 21-19 win over University of New England.
Macquarie University had ended the last Lions’ playoff hopes in a final 24-19 loss.
Griffith University won the 2018 series after a third straight win. They defeated last year’s winners University of Queensland in the final.