Image
Sharni Williams

Sharni Williams

Age

36

Place of Birth

NSW

Hometown

Batlow

Senior Club

Warringah RATS rugby club

Olympic History

Rio 2016

Tokyo 2020

High School

Batlow technology

Career Events

Rugby Sevens Womens 12-team Tournament

 

Sharni's Story

Fast Facts

Sport: Rugby Sevens
Event: Women's Rugby Sevens
Olympic History: Rio 2016 (Gold), Tokyo 2020
Year Born: 1998
State Born: NSW

About Sharni

Born and bred in Batlow NSW, Sharni Williams is one of Australia's best rugby players with over 35 Sevens caps and 19 Wallaroos caps. 

The 33-year-old made her international debut in 2008 with the Rugby 15s, winning her first Australian cap against New Zealand. She went on to play at the 2010 Rugby Women’s World Cup in England, where the Wallaroos claimed the bronze medal. 

Sharni was awarded ACT Rugby Rookie of the Year in 2008 and Australian Women's Player of the Year in 2010.

Sharni then made the switch to the sevens format in 2011 and played in every leg of the Women's Sevens World Series since its inception in November 2012, until injury ruled her out of the Sao Paulo Sevens in February 2016.

The NSW native made her Olympic debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where she was named co-captain of the Australian rugby sevens team. In Rio, she lead the team to victory, defeating New Zealand in the final to win the inaugural Rugby 7s Olympic Gold medal. 

She made a return to the 15-a-side game for the Wallaroos at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup, in Dublin, finishing 5th. That same year she received an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia), along with her Rio teammates, for services to sport. 

In 2018, Sharni lead the Australian team to a Commonwealth Games Silver medal and a Bronze medal at the Rugby World Cup in San Fransisco. 

Williams made her second Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020, hoping to recreate the achievements of the previous iteration of the games. Leading by example Sharni would contribute 26 points across the tournament, including group-stage tries against both China and the United States. This would lead the Aussies to a quarter-final clash against Fiji, where they would narrowly fall short in a tense match, ending 14-12. 

Following this, the Australians would bounce back and achieve victories over the ROC and United States (who they had lost to in the group stage) to achieve a 5th overall placing at the games. 

Read More