The Australian Women’s Rugby Sevens team will shortly announce their squad for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where they will compete in Pool A against USA, Fiji and Colombia.

The squad head to Rio ranked Number One in the world after sealing a first ever World Championship in France six weeks ago, built on the success of a full-time program with a unique mix of Rugby experience, code-crossing athletes and young guns contracted in order to attempt to build a dynasty that will include both the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Not all 20 players in the Australian program will be on the plane to Rio; only 12 can be selected, meaning there will be an unlucky 8 who miss out.

RUPA Communications Manager Pete Fairbairn sat down with the squad’s youngest player, Georgie Friedrichs, as well as Amy Turner, the squad member who has played Rugby the longest, to find out more about the team dynamics, how they’ll all support each other regardless as to who is selected, and what it’s like to be world champions already!

Click here to find out more about Amy Turner’s journey into the Australian Rugby Sevens program, courtesy of SBS Zela and Jill Scanlon.

Pete Fairbairn (PF): Ladies, talk me through how exciting it is to be Australia’s first ever Rugby Sevens world champions?

Amy Turner (AT): It’s an absolutely amazing feeling. It’s been over three years now since we’ve been in a full-time program and we’ve worked so hard, so to come away with the win is phenomenal.

Georgie (GF): Yeah it’s awesome, just the support we’ve had from all over the world and then coming back to the Australia and having everybody want to celebrate it with us. It’s great.

PF: Amy, being in the position to be world champions and to win a gold medal must have been a long process. Talk me through what it’s been like for you personally.

Amy: I wasn’t initially in the program when It became full time; I was still working up in Mt. Isa but after a year I decided to make the move (down to Sydney). All of the girls were just getting better and better each time I was coming down, so in order to try and make the squad for Rio I knew I’d have to be working with them day in, day out, to be considered.

Click here to find about more about young gun Georgie Friedrichs, courtesy of Rugby.com.au and Beth Newman.

PF: Georgie, you’ve just recently joined the squad. Talk me through how that opportunity came about, how you first started playing rugby sevens, and what the last few months have been like.

GF: So I first started playing Rugby Sevens in 2012 at the first schoolgirls championship, and then I was selected into the Australian youth team from there. I’ve been involved from the development side of the program since then, and then in March I got asked to move down and join the girls full time which was awesome; I’ve been working towards that (for) the last few years.

Shortly after that I got to make my World Series debut in Canada, which was awesome, and then I was the 13th (travelling reserve) in France when we sealed the championship; it was a great feeling to be there!

PF: Georgie, having had only a few months in the program, has it surprised you just how hard everyone works and how determined everyone is to reach those common goals of first the world championship, and now the road to Rio?

GF: Well It’s not surprising; you know the hard work the girls have to put in. However it’s been really good to be around the girls and see firsthand what they do, and try to get to the same level myself.

PF: Amy there’s been quite an injection of youth into the squad in the last year or two with the likes of Georgie, Emma (Tonegato), Dominique (Du Toit), Mahalia (Murphy) and more. Does that energise the squad, and keep everyone you striving to be at their best to be selected for Rio?

AT: Yeah absolutely. It’s a new group of talented young girls and you watch somebody like Georgie train and it’s like she’s there with us since the very start. She’s an amazing young player who’s going to have an awesome future alongside all of the other young girls. They definitely keep us on our toes and they just offer something new to the game with their deadly steps, and all their speed!

PF: Do you think that those of you who were there before the program went full time have been trail blazers for the young girls coming through?

AT: Yeah, when we started out there was basically nothing around. We didn’t have the Youth Commonwealth Games or the Youth Olympic Games, for example. There’s just so many opportunities for the new girls coming through and it’s just so exciting; if I had the opportunity back in those days…

PF: You would’ve jumped at it?

AT: Yeah, absolutely! For me, being 32 at the moment means that I’ve really only got one chance to play at the Olympics and I need to give it my all.

PF: The team have done a wonderful job and winning the world championship is fantastic, however I spoke to Walshy (Head Coach Tim Walsh) earlier and he said “we’ll enjoy it later”. It’s a significant achievement, but how much can you enjoy the World Championship and how much have preparations immediately shifted to Rio?

AT: For me personally, preparations for Rio started the day that we lost the Clermont-Ferrand final to Canada. After losing that final, we agreed that we don’t want to experience that feeling again, especially in Rio. Everyone’s just working so hard and making sure we’re there to play and there to win.

PF: Georgie, final one. You’ve got almost a fully fit squad and you can’t all go to Rio. How intense is that challenge and how hard are you all pushing each other to extract the best out of one another, but also stake your own selection claims?

GF: Every single day at training is a competition with each other, but we also have to be a team as well. We need to push ourselves and push each other, because we’re all part of a team with one goal and we know we can’t all be there. Whoever misses out will be disappointed of course, but will just want to be able to do everything that they can to help those who are going over there to represent our whole squad and Australia.

PF: Good luck girls; I know that whether you’re in the 12 or not, you’ll play your part and do us all proud like all 20 of you have done to win the World Championship.