Born in Suva, Fiji, Ellia Green’s sporting experience started at the age of six when she began sprinting at Little Athletics. Green spent 10 years in athletics, representing Australia in the 100m, 200m and long jump at the World Junior Championships.
A representative also of the Melbourne Tigers basketball team, it was her Fijian-rugby playing cousins that convinced her to try her hand at sevens.
Green then took part in the Australian Rugby Union’s ‘Pathway to Gold’ trials in 2012. It was her first taste of the professional version of the game, but ARU High Performance Coaches liked what they saw.
Green was selected for the next stage, a Development Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra and, from there, was one of five identified for a further selection camp.
About six months later in February 2013, Green was called up to make her national rugby sevens debut in the second round of the Women’s Sevens World Series in Houston.
Since her debut, Green has become a key asset for the Australian Women’s Sevens team, and a popular one at that, with her outgoing personality coupled with her skill and agility clearly recognisable on the World circuit.
One of her most memorable tries came during last year’s Gold Coast Sevens when the Aussie Women’s team played Canada in a three match exhibition series as part of the tournament.
At one game apiece with the Canadians, the Aussies were about to lose the series. Down 15-12 in the third and final match against Canada, Green wowed audiences with a 75-metre match winning try in the dying minutes to secure the win and the series title.
Green has continued to shine on the Australian Women’s path to the 2016 Rio Olympics, where the game of rugby sevens is set to make its debut.
On Day One at the most recent round of the 2014/15 Women’s Sevens World Series in Canada at the weekend Green crossed the line for seven tries against Brazil, China and France in the pool matches, an impressive performance which saw the 22-year-old named in the Canada Sevens Dream Team.
Off the field Green completed her Business Diploma in December last year with fellow Australian Sevens team members, as organised through RUPA’s Player Development Program (PDP). She has also recently shown interest in an upcoming Youth Work course to be organised through RUPA’s Cultural Diversity and Development Program (CDDP).
