The 19-year-old, who is combining Sevens with her studies at the Australia Defence Force Academy, scored a hat-trick of tries in the title decider at 7he Sevens as Australia fought back from 22-0 down to claim their first World Series win.
She also showed great skill to juggle the ball round her back and enable Emilee Cherry to score a try in the 35-27 win that means Australia head into the next round of the series in Atlanta this weekend on top of the standings.
The experience, therefore, is one Crothers won’t forget in a hurry.“I was pretty and excited to go to Dubai given I had only really been a part of the squad for a few months,” Crothers admitted. “I really just wanted to do my role within the team as well as I could.
“I hadn’t even seen an IRB Series so I didn’t exactly know what I was going to be up against.
“The final was an amazing game, I think we are still unsure exactly how we did it, but our coach Tim Walsh was still confident at half-time, provided we could get our hands on the ball.
“We got a few lucky bounces and took our chances. We started to get the ball, we won a few restarts and created some good play ... we just got on a roll.”
Relive the Dubai 2013 final
The challenge now for Crothers and her Australian teammates is to build on the success in Dubai and prove it was no one-off, starting with the next rounds of the Series in Atlanta (15-16 February) and Sao Paulo (21-22 February).
“We have recently centralised the programme in Sydney, so to have everyone training together four times a week on the field is going to make us much better prepared,” added Crothers.
“It is very important we build on that Dubai. This year is all about ensuring we remain a core team in the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series as this is the first entry point for qualification into Rio in the 2014/15 Series.”
What then is Crothers hoping for from the double-header in Atlanta – where Australia will face hosts USA, Canada and China in Pool A – and Sao Paulo?
“We just want to continue to develop our style, we would obviously like to do well again but if we can improve from game to game that is what we are looking for.
“It is a really tough pool. Canada are always amongst the top few teams and last year the USA did very well in Houston at their home tournament so we expect them to be very good.
“China were really impressive when we last played them in the Asia-Pacific Championships in Shanghai (her debut outing with Australia) so it is a tough pool.”
Dubai star watch: Rachel Crothers
Walsh has named an unchanged squad for the rounds in Atlanta and Brazil, the first events since the Sevens programme was centralised at the Sydney Academy of Sport in Narrabeen in January.
"As a team we have an opportunity to make a stand in the World Series," said Walsh. "We don't want to be getting ahead of ourselves but if we can continue to nurture success then we will be raising the profile of Women's Sevens rugby and a trophy for Australia at the same time.
"Doing well once is achievable for many rugby nations. Doing well consistently is what is needed to win an IRB World Series. This is our goal for this season regardless of circumstances. We are building a squad with depth and the players are ready to slot in wherever the team requires."
