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QANTAS AUSTRALIAN SEVENS TEAMS NAMED FOR OCEANIA SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIP IN FIJI

07/11/2016
 
 

QANTAS AUSTRALIAN SEVENS TEAMS NAMED FOR OCEANIA SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIP IN FIJI

MONDAY 7 NOVEMBER, 2016
Note to Editors: Click here for rights free images of Australian debutants Hannah Southwell, Emma Sykes and Shanice Parker   

Qantas Australian Women’s Head Coach Tim Walsh has chosen a mix of youth and Gold medal experience for the Oceania Sevens Championship, while Qantas Australian Men’s Sevens Head Coach Andy Friend is throwing open opportunities for young players to vie for selection in his final 2016/17 squad.

The two-day tournament will be played in Suva on November 11-12.

Friend has named a squad that includes a raft of young up and coming talent with only two players older than 22 years of age making the trip across the Pacific.

With one eye on re-building the Aussie 7s Men’s team in the post 2016 Rio Olympic Games era, Friend has urged his young charges to take their opportunities.

The Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens team will give young squad members Georgie Friedrichs, Emma Sykes, Hannah Southwell and the recently signed Shanice Parker the chance to mix with Australia’s Olympic heroes when the tournament kicks off next Friday.

With less than a month until the opening round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series gets underway on December 1, Walsh wants his charges to continue their progression following on from their victory at the Central Coast Sevens in October.

Qantas Australian Women’s Head Coach, Tim Walsh said: “We have had a great preparation period leading into this tournament and we are looking forward to continuing to build momentum towards Dubai.

“We know that this tournament is going to be incredibly tough and we will need to adapt to the challenges that come our way.

“For our young players such as Georgie, Emma, Hannah and Shanice, this tournament is only going to add to their growing experience at International level and hold them in good stead moving forward.”   

Qantas Australian Men’s Head Coach, Andy Friend said: “We are in a unique period for the Australian Men’s Sevens team having been through a changing of the guard after Rio.

“For a coach it’s an exciting period as we move to create the building blocks for a strong team for the future.

“We have seen players really stand up and be counted at training but now is the time for that to translate to the field and we are looking forward to what the Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship has to throw at us.”

The Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship kicks off on Friday 11 November in Suva, Fiji.

Australian Men’s Squad:  
John Porch (C)
Sam Croke
Bennett Leslie
Conor Mitchell
Tom Connor
Liam McNamara
Josh Coward
Mick Adams
Charlie Taylor
Alex Gibbon
Simon Kennewell
Sam Caslick
Australian Women’s Squad:  
Shannon Parry (c)
Sharni Williams (c)
Tiana Penitani
Mahalia Murphy
Emma Tonegato
Emma Sykes
Hannah Southwell
Shanice Parker
Brooke Anderson
Alicia Quirk
Georgie Friedrichs
Dom Du Toit
 

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