Captaincy blow for Aussie women's sevens
INJURY UPDATE: Australia sevens captain Isabella Nasser has undergone surgery for a finger injury and will miss this weekend’s world series round in Singapore.
Tia Hinds will captain the women’s team for the first time in Nasser’s absence, with Bienne Turner recalled for the Singapore event as they aim to go one better than their runner-up result to archrivals New Zealand in Hong Kong last weekend.
Nasser will aim to get for the Los Angeles Final in May.
Teagan Levi (knee) and Kahli Henwood (shoulder) sat out most of the Hong Kong event but have been included in the squad for Singapore.
Winger Maddison Levi is on the verge of 200 career tries and in doing so would become the first Australian to achieve the milestone.
She is sitting on 196 after bagging 14 tries in six games on the weekend.
Coach Tim Walsh said the Hong Kong experience provided plenty of growth for his young squad.
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“At an average age of 21 and only 11 players, I felt like we brought a sword to a gun fight when we played the Final against New Zealand,” he said.
“This week’s format is a ‘smash and grab’ with every game essentially being a knock-out.
“It’s important we build and keep growing as we lead into the Final in Los Angeles next month.
Australia men’s team coach Liam Barry named the same squad that collected the bronze medal in Hong Kong.
“We were super disappointed not to win our semifinal against Argentina in Hong Kong.
“We didn’t take the couple of opportunities we had, and Argentina did.
The team showed tremendous grit and composure to be down against Fiji and come back at the end to win.
“The team have a short turnaround to Singapore and so recovery this week is key.”
