Isabella Nasser eyes special Sydney occasion as attentions turn to LA28

The chance to play at Accor Stadium in Sydney this weekend will hold multiple meanings for Australian Women’s Sevens captain Isabella Nasser, who recently re-signed with the programme through to the 2028 Olympics.

Nasser is set to feature against New Zealand at the Kick On 7s event on Friday before returning to the field for Saturday’s Sydney Quadruple Header. The event will also see the Wallaroos face Scotland, the Australian Men’s Sevens take on Fiji and the Wallabies meet New Zealand in the second Bledisloe Cup clash.

However, the occasion will also be special for Nasser on a personal level, with her brother, Wallaby Josh Nasser, potentially featuring on the same day. Josh came off the bench to score the Wallabies’ only second-half try against New Zealand last week.

“I don’t think we’ve ever played on the same day in the same area,” Nasser reflected when asked about the opportunity to see another member of her family involved in such a significant day for Australian rugby.

“So that would be pretty surreal. The family are very proud of Josh and his development in the Wallabies.

“I think that would be pretty special if we were able to play on the same day.

“We very rarely, if ever, play in Sydney, which is where we’re based, and [it’s] very accessible for our family and friends. It’s where most of them live.

“To be able to play in front of a home crowd, and then show them what we’ve been working on, have their support, and then particularly against New Zealand, it’ll be awesome.”

The match will also mark a changing of the guard in Australian women’s rugby, with Reg Tayler taking charge of the Australian Women’s Sevens side for the first time after serving as an assistant coach under his predecessor, Tim Walsh.

Walsh transitioned into the role of Director of Women’s High Performance in July and has since overseen several significant changes. He appointed Tayler as his successor in sevens and named Sione Fukofuka as the new Wallaroos head coach, with Fukofuka set to lead the side towards the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Another key priority is completing the transition to a fully professional Wallaroos programme, bringing it into closer alignment with the women’s sevens setup. The broader high-performance programme is also expanding, with an Australian U21s side scheduled to play its inaugural fixture against New Zealand U21s at the end of October.

With Fukofuka not starting until next year, Walsh has led an interim Wallaroos coaching team for the remainder of the 2026 season. The side showed promise during its European tour, producing improved performances against England and France before recording a 30-10 victory over Scotland.

Saturday presents an opportunity for Australian women’s rugby to demonstrate the progress being made across the programme. Nasser, who will continue as captain of the sevens side, believes all four Australian teams will need to rise to the occasion.

“It’s huge,” Nasser said. “It’s something that’s never happened before, which is really exciting.

“I think it shows the unity of the players at Rugby Australia, and I think it’s a really, really exciting opportunity for not only our Australian women’s team, but also the men’s, the Wallabies in one of their biggest games, and then the Wallaroos to take on Scotland.

“Any opportunity to play rugby is awesome, but to play one of the top teams in the world, being New Zealand, is also really, really important and really good for our development leading into the World Series and Dubai.”

Nasser believes success will depend on continuing to develop depth across both sevens and XVs, with greater crossover between the formats offering further opportunities for Australian players.

“I think success is going to look to be developing and continue to growing a really deep squad, not only in the sevens area, but also in the XVs.

“We’ve obviously seen a few crossovers, like Maya Stewart in Singapore. We saw Maddie [Levi], Alysia [Lefau-Fakaosilea], BB [Bienne Terita] play the Test match against New Zealand in New Zealand not too long ago.

“To see that crossover and that success of that crossover was really exciting.

“They call it the golden decade, but success would be performing well not only at the 28 Olympics for us, but for the World Series coming up to qualify for the Olympics, first and foremost, and then go into that.

“Then for the XV girls, it’s performing really well at their World Cup.”

The changes across the women’s programme represent a significant step forward from when Nasser made her debut during the 2022-23 HSBC SVNS Series. The disappointment of the 2024 Paris Olympics has helped fuel the team’s determination to improve, culminating in their HSBC SVNS World Championship title earlier this year.

The side will face New Zealand in one of several pre-season fixtures ahead of Dubai, with the squad featuring emerging talents Cobi Ryan-Last and Emmisyn Wynyard alongside established players such as Maddison Levi, Heidi Dennis and Faith Nathan.

“I think the hunger probably hasn’t really left us since Paris,” Nasser admitted. “We have immediately looked forward to the next four years, and building and growing as a team each year, each tournament.

“As a player, I’ve grown quite a bit since the 2024 Paris Olympics, but also more so as a person and as a leader in the group. I think the squad we’ve got at the moment is really exciting, and it’s something that I’m really excited for.

“There’s plenty of combos, and the cohesion within the back line is really exciting. So, I think that’s probably the most growth, my growth is probably my management around being a captain in the team.

“New Zealand continue to always put out a really strong squad, whether that’s the seven gold medalists that they’ve got in their squad, or it’s their five debutants. It’s pretty exciting that they can roll out a really good squad, and I think it’ll be a really exciting match-up.”

The Australian Women’s Sevens side has frequently been regarded as one of the shining lights of Australian rugby over the past decade. However, even with the team currently at the top of the sport, Nasser knows there is no room for complacency, particularly with Olympic qualification looming at the end of the season.

“We definitely acknowledge it [the HSBC SVNS World Championship title],” Nasser said. “We’re very proud of our result, and it’s something that we worked really hard for.

“But we always know that complacency never announces itself. We know teams will be coming after us, and we can’t be happy with just settling for what we’ve done. We can be proud of it, and we’re ready to keep building and keep striving.

“We know that the standard is ourselves, and we always have to keep driving our standard as a team and a squad, and continue to keep going, keep getting better, and keep helping each other out.”