Maurice Longbottom is set to return home to Australia and spend time on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, as the Australian Men’s and Women’s Sevens sides confirmed their squads for the Cape Town 7s this weekend.
The Aussies will be looking for a swift response following both sides losing in the final to New Zealand in Dubai, with running repairs to both sides.
Longbottom’s omission with a hamstring injury is a major loss of experience; however, coach Liam Barry is set to bring in the versatile Ben Dowling back into the side for Cape Town.
It will be one of two changes for the men, with Hadley Tonga also dropping out and rookie Beau Morrison named to make his debut for the side.
The women’s side will see three changes to the outfit that took the field in Dubai, with Sariah Paki, Tia Hinds and Kaitlin Shave dropping out of the squad.
In their place, Kahli Henwood, Kiiahla Duff and Bridget Clark will all join the starting outfit in Cape Town following their impressive performances for Australia A that saw them take home the Women’s Invitational Title in Dubai.
Australia Women's Sevens coach Tim Walsh says that managing short-, medium-, and long-term goals remains unchanged for their program strategy, following their Dubai campaign.
He says he is confident in picking any one of their fit players.
The Australian Men’s 7s side is in pool B with Argentina, Spain and France, while the Women’s side is pooled with France, Canada and Japan.
Meanwhile, the Fiji Airways Men’s National 7s side will open their Cape Town 7s campaign against South Africa at 10:44pm Saturday before facing Great Britain at 1:38am Sunday in their second pool match.
They will play New Zealand at 5:19am Sunday in their last pool match.
The men’s semi-final will start at 10:22pm Sunday, and the final is at 2:43am Monday.
The Fijiana 7s will take on the USA at 8:44pm Saturday, before facing Great Britain at 12am Sunday, and they will meet New Zealand at 3:48am Sunday in their last pool match.
The women’s semi-finals will start at 9:38pm Sunday, and the final will be at 2:10am Monday.
South Africa is the defending men’s champion, while New Zealand is the defending women’s champion.
Again, there will be no quarterfinals, and the top two teams from each pool will advance to the semi-finals.
Source: Rugby.com.au
