Australia's women will break new ground this year by fielding a national Sevens side at the Rugby World Cup qualifiers in Samoa on 25-26 July.
The Wallaroos - the Australian Women’s Rugby team – debuted on the 15-a-side international stage in 1994 but no Australian women’s team has ever been assembled for Sevens competition and the aim is now to qualify for the tournament in Dubai next year, where men's and women's Sevens will take place side by side for the first time.
The qualifiers in Samoa will involve nations from across the Oceania region, including Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Fiji with just two advancing to the 16-team tournament.
“It’s exciting for the women’s programme to be expanding into Sevens,” said team manager Matt Grimison.
“Obviously we want to have our team in Dubai and we’re looking at both our traditional and non-traditional nurseries to ensure we have the best squad possible.”
Apart from players already in the National Training Squad, several individuals stood out at the Australian women’s touch championships in Coffs Harbour a fortnight ago and have accepted invitations to take part in the Sevens trials.
“We spotted some exceptional athletes at the national touch titles and Sevens rugby is appealing to them,” he added. “We’ll see how they go in the trials and we’re confident we’ll have a very competitive side.”
Australian Sevens coach Bill Millard – currently with the men’s team in Hong Kong for this weekend’s latest round of the International Rugby Board Sevens World Series – will also coach the women’s Sevens team.
Brazil has already qualified for the women’s event through a South American tournament. The remaining qualifiers will be drawn from Oceania (two), Africa (two), North America (two), Asia (three) and Europe (six).
Wallaroos to host World Champions
The ARU has also announced that the Wallaroos will host the World Champion Black Ferns of New Zealand in Canberra in October.
The two tests, to be played on 14 and 18 October, will be the first women’s rugby internationals played in Australia since the 2001 test against England in Newcastle.
The Black Ferns return to Australia for the first time since 1998 and will be defending the Laurie O’Reilly Memorial Trophy, which they claimed during their 2-0 series win over the Wallaroos in New Zealand last year.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for the team to measure themselves against the world’s best and credit must go to both unions for their commitment to setting this tour up,” said Australia coach Steve Hamson.
“Last year’s tour of New Zealand showed we weren’t too far away from the benchmark and playing them on home soil this year will give us our best chance of posting a win.”
