Kick off, Friday evening, the Aussie men at 8pm (AEDT) and the Aussie women 10:22pm. Put a reminder in your calendar.
The format has changed for Cape Town. Best descriptor of the format, brutal.
Teams cannot lose a game. It is four pools of three teams, so the pool stage is just two games. The teams that top their pool roll straight into the semi-finals, then onto the final. The teams that come second in their pool, word has it, play through to a plate Final. That sounds a bit reminiscent of the format from years ago.
There does not seem to have been any detail or formal explanation by World Rugby. Various reasons have been floated such as cost reduction and also player welfare as back-to-back tournaments are too difficult. There has been an indication the Singapore leg will be same as it directly follows Hong Kong.
At this stage the who knows emoji is apt.
It was noted there was no Dream Team announced after Dubai. Throw in there being one fewer tournament in the SVNS Series. Also a little odd after the success of rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics there is no tournament in Europe. Maybe there are a few things going on behind the scenes. Again the shrug emoji.
The Aussie sevens women are no doubt still on a bit of a high after the Dubai win. Just one change: Demi Hayes is heading home, guessing it is a load issue having just returned from an ACL. In her place steps another youngster 19-year-old, Mackenzie Davis, who played for NSW in the recent Next Gen Series.
The women’s pool of Brazil and Canada, to be honest, is pretty light on. That is assuming the Canada squad is the same as in Dubai. With most of their Olympic silver medallist players missing they lost twice to Japan and big losses to New Zealand and Australia. But they did have a good win over Brazil. The Brazilians are real fighters and in Dubai did have wins over Japan, Spain and China.
The Aussie women should account for both teams. It will be interesting to see how coach Tim Walsh uses the new players.
The Aussie men are looking for an improved performance and have stuck with the same squad. It is the last tournament for Nathan Lawson before he heads to the NRL. The players will be wanting to impress new coach Liam Barry as he watches on and who will take over in Perth.
Not wanting to jinx things but the men’s pool is not too bad, Kenya and Spain. In Dubai the Aussie men had a good win over Kenya but Kenya did defeat South Africa. Spain is a real wild card. In Dubai they defeated the Kiwis twice, no mean feat, defeated Great Britain and USA and ended up losing to Fiji in the final.
So in the pool stage, the men could go two wins from two or zero wins from two, neither would be a big surprise.
So when do the Aussies play?
Australian men
Australia v Kenya 8pm AEDT Friday, 7 December 2024
Australia v Spain 1.48am AEDT Saturday, 8 December 2024
Australian women
Australia v Brazil 10.22pm AEDT Friday, 7 December 2024
Australia v Canada 1.48am AEDT Saturday, 8 December 2024
Australia Women’s Sevens team for HSBC SVNS Cape Town 2024/25
1. Piper Simons
3. Faith Nathan
5. Teagan Levi
7. Charlotte Caslick
9. Tia Hinds
10. Isabella Nasser
12. Maddison Levi
13. Heidi Dennis
15. Kahli Henwood
23. Ruby Nicholas
28. Kiiahla Duff
65. Sariah Paki
–. Mackenzie Davis*
*denotes debutant
Australia Men’s Sevens team for HSBC SVNS Cape Town 2024/2025
1. Henry Hutchison
2. Ben Dowling
3. Henry Palmer
6. Henry Paterson
7. James McGregor
9. Matt Gonzalez
10. Ben Dalton
12. Nathan Lawson
14. James Turner
15. Sid Harvey
23. Aden Ekanayake
25. Hayden Sargeant
87. Michael Icely
