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Amongst the understandable euphoria of a cracking Round 1 of the Super Rugby Pacific, with three Australian teams jagging wins, a casual reminder the Aussie sevens teams are in Vancouver this weekend.
So just a short and sweet preview, injury update and the playing times. The Pool games are at reasonable viewing times too.
Aussie Women
Holy smokes. The women took out gold at the Perth SVNS in an absolute cracker of a final against New Zealand 28-26. If you have not seen it is must-see viewing, obviously it’s available on Stan but a full repay is also on YouTube.
The holy smokes part of it was both try scoring machines Maddi Levi and Faitha Nathan were out of the final, broken thumb and concussion, respectively.
The youngsters really stepped up. Two mentions, non-youngster, Demi Hayes had a great tournament, not just her best since her ACL but one of her all-time best tournaments. (And she has been around for a while.) The other is Heidi Dennis who has had a few injuries and was outstanding in the final.
The women, obviously, will go into Vancouver feeling reasonably confident but it will still be tough. A number of teams are a lot more competitive than some would expect. Their Pool contains Spain, Brazil and Canada.
Maddie Levi is out with her busted thumb. That injury is extra irritating as we do not know when and how she will get a run with the Queensland Reds. In her place is Bridget Clark returning from injury who may not have Levi’s speed but brings some size.
If you want a shock, check out below the list of women players unavailable due to injury. There are four who are out for the season. With two gold medals and a fourth out of three tournaments this season, it is pretty good going and great work by coach Tim Walsh.
With the injuries, many occurring last year it is exciting to see Walsh able to really build this group of new youngsters into his team.
Vancouver is going to be an interesting watch. No doubt the Kiwis will come out all guns blazing.
Aussie Men
The Australian men took an Argentinian beating in the final in Perth but to be honest, I did not see them making the final. So as painful a result the final was, 41-5, a silver medal was a sensational outcome.
They defeated South Africa in the quarter-final and Canada in the semi-final. Noting during the Perth tournament they were without co-captain Henry Paterson. On the flip side they did get back Maurice Longbottom who naturally makes a difference.
Vancouver for the lads starts ugly again. All the Pools are pretty ugly, it’s the degree of ugliness. Their pool contains Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa. Taking out silver in Perth got them no favours. Basically, the same squad heads to Canada with Henry Paterson returning in place of young speedster Hadley Tonga.
If you want two to keep an eye on Jayden Blake and Aden Ekanayake.
Australia Women’s Sevens team for HSBC SVNS Vancouver
1. Piper Simons
3. Faith Nathan
4. Mackenzie Davis
5. Teagan Levi
7. Charlotte Caslick
9. Tia Hinds
10. Isabella Nasser (c)
11. Demi Hayes
13. Heidi Dennis
14. Bridget Clark
15. Kahli Henwood
23. Ruby Nicholas
28. Kiiahla Duff
Australia Men’s Sevens team for HSBC SVNS Vancouver
1. Henry Hutchison (c)
2. Ben Dowling
6. Henry Paterson (c)
9. Matt Gonzalez
10. Ben Dalton
11. Maurice Longbottom
13. Jayden Blake
14. James Turner
15. Sid Harvey
23. Aden Ekanayake
25. Hayden Sargeant
29. Josh Turner
87. Michael Icely
Unavailable for selection due to injury
Women
Maddison Levi (thumb) – Hong Kong 7s
Sariah Paki (calf) – Hong Kong 7s
Bienne Terita (hamstring) – Hong Kong 7s
Madison Ashby (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
Kaitlin Shave (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
Sidney Taylor (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
Men
Dietrich Roache (knee) – 2025/2026 World Series
HSBC SVNS Vancouver schedule
Women – Pool A
Saturday, February 22: Australia v Spain (10:50am AEDT)
Saturday, February 22: Australia v Brazil (4:20pm AEDT)
Sunday, February 23: Australia v Canada (10:08am AEDT)
Men – Pool B
Saturday, February 22: Australia v Ireland (7:24am AEDT)
Saturday, February 22: Australia v New Zealand (12:51pm AEDT)
Sunday, February 23: Australia v South Africa (6:36am AEDT)
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The post Kiwis look to take advantage of Aussies’ long injury list as Levi misses Vancouver tournament first appeared on Rugby 247.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-02-18 04:05:36
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