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Australia name world-class women’s and men’s squads for Dubai SVNS
The SVNS World Series will look a little bit different this season but the dream remains the same as the best of the best battle it out for bragging rights, trophies and glory.
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Harbouring ambitions of taking out the overall series title this season, the Australian women’s and men’s teams have arrived in Dubai ahead of the first event this weekend.
Led by Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Caslick, an impressive squad that oozes experience will look to end the Black Ferns’ reign at the top of the world.
The side includes 11 players who helped Australia win an unrivalled golden season in 2022, with the team taking out the Commonwealth Games, Rugby Sevens World Cup and the World Sevens Series.
But the Black Ferns will be hard to beat. Australia will need to bring their A-game as they look to extend their traditionally strong form in Dubai for another season.
“The program has spent the best part of preseason training and playing around the world. The objective being to play more rugby, increase player and team rugby IQ, resilience, positional depth and team combinations,” women’s coach Tim Walsh said in a statement.
“Tom Carter has challenged and physically extended the team to an elite level, whilst consistently having 85% of the squad at full training capacity. We also have the full squad available for selection and welcome Kaitlin Shave who will make her long-awaited debut with the Australian team.“We are very fortunate to have experienced players in Charlotte Caslick and Sharni Smale leading the team during such an intense Olympic season – both have navigated the challenges of such seasons, and they know what to expect.“Sevens continues to go from strength to strength and, in an Olympic year, the launch of the invigorated new format will only enhance the entertainment spectacle and world-class product the HSBC World Sevens Series delivers.”
The return of Ben Dowling is the major takeaway from the Australian men’s teams squad, while development squad members Henry Palmer and Ben Dalton have also been given the go-ahead for the opening round of the series.
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Dally Bird and Hayen Sargeant have retained their spots in the 13-man squad as they prepare for their second seasons at the top level.
Bird, 21, recently told RugbyPass about his heartbreaking exit from Waratahs Academy and how that continues to fuel him on the SVNS series.
Nick Malouf captains the side after an injury-riddled 2022/23 campaign, while experienced campaigners Maurice Longbottom, Dietrich Roache, James and Josh Turner will also don Aussie gold.
“Finally we have arrived at the start line for a huge season. There has been plenty of work done to put us in a strong position to perform,” men’s coach John Manenti said.
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“Consistency is what we are searching for throughout the season and our depth is starting to build nicely to put us in a position to do that.“We know if we play with the physicality, skill & detail that we’ve put in during the preseason, we’ll be in good shape to get a result in Dubai.”
Australians can watch every round of the HSBC SVNS series ad-free, live and on-demand on Stan Sport.
Australia Women’s Sevens team for Dubai SVNS:2. Sharni Smale3. Faith Nathan4. Dominique Du Toit5. Teagan Levi6. Madison Ashby7. Charlotte Caslick (C)8. Kaitlin Shave*11. Demi Hayes12. Maddison Levi22. Bienne Terita55. Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea65. Sariah Paki*Denotes potential debutAustralia Men’s Sevens team for Dubai SVNS:2. Ben Dowling3. Henry Palmer4. Dietrich Roache5. Tim Clements7. Josh Turner8. Dally Bird9. Matt Gonzalez10. Nick Malouf (C)11. Maurice Longbottom12. Nathan Lawson13. Ben Dalton14. James Turner25. Hayden Sargeant
Comments on RugbyPass
Amazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
1 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
1 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
1 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
8 Go to commentsGood riddance
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