Australia Sevens re-sign trio of rising stars for 2026 SVNS Series

Three of Australia Sevens’ brightest rising stars have re-signed for the 2026 HSBC SVNS Series season, headlined by Mackenzie Davis who was crowned Rugby Australia’s Junior Women’s Player of the Year last Friday.

Youngsters Amahli Hala and Piper Simons have also re-committed to the national sevens side, having debuted on the circuit in 2024/25 after starring for the Queensland Reds and NSW Waratahs respectively in Next Gen 7s.

Davis was a breakout star on the SVNS Series last season, receiving two nominations for awards ahead of Rugby Australia’s night of nights in Sydney – named as a finalist for Rookie of the Year alongside Wallabies centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.

 

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Wallaroos duo Caitlyn Halse and Waiaria Ellis were nominated for Junior Player of the Year, but that honour went to Davis, who went from strength to strength on the SVNS Series after debuting in Cape Town last December.

In Singapore earlier this year, Daivs scored a hat-trick against Olympic silver medallists Canada during Australia’s run to the Cup Final. Australia Sevens can look forward to seeing more game-breaking plays from Davis, Hala and Simons in the season ahead.

“The standard of our playing group is incredible. We have Olympians amongst our group but they put so much time and effort into making sure that we’re all ready,” Davis told RugbyPass and Rugby.com.au at the 2025 Rugby Australia Awards.

“Our coaching staff and our playing group just give so much confidence in one another and we support each other. I think it’s easy just to go out there and back yourself when you’re supported by such an incredible group of women “

Australia finished the 2024/25 campaign in second place, falling to rivals New Zealand in the winner-takes-all World Championship in Los Angeles. The Black Ferns Sevens had claimed four titles during the round-robin too, marking a dominant campaign from Cory Sweeney’s side.

After a long pre-season, the new season gets underway at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai on November 29-30. The Series heads to Cape Town the following weekend for the second stop of the campaign on December 6-7.

Singapore, Australia, Vancouver and USA are other destinations during the regular season, before the three-leg SVNS World Championships. Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux will host events to determine the overall SVNS Series women’s and men’s champions for 2025/26.

“We’re so excited for the season to come,” Davis said.

“We’ve got amazing girls coming back from injury so the depth of our group is incredible this season.

“We’re just pushing each other this long pre-season and just getting ready for the season ahead.”