Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens team ready to begin title defence
After months of pre-season training, the Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens team has been named to defend their Dubai Sevens crown and begin their campaign to become the first Australian team to win back to back HSBC Sevens World Series titles.
Headlining the team will be the stars of the Rio Olympic Games including World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year, Charlotte Caslick, Co-Captains Shannon Parry and Sharni Williams, Chloe Dalton, Emilee Cherry, Emma Tonegato and Alicia Quirk.
Joining them will be Brooke Anderson, Mahalia Murphy, Georgia Friedrichs, Tiana Penitani and Emma Sykes, who is set to make her HSBC Sevens World Series debut after impressing Head Coach Tim Walsh during the Central Coast Sevens and Oceania Sevens tournaments.
Both Friedrichs and Murphy were stars of the 2016 National Sevens Championship held in Adelaide last weekend, with Friedrichs taking out Player of the Tournament.
Anderson and Penitani, the best friends who co-captained the gold medal-winning Australian Girls’ Team at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics, will play their first World Series tournament together in two years, after both having been in and out of injury over the past years.
Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens Head Coach, Tim Walsh said: “This squad represents a new dawn for the Aussie 7s Women’s team with our young players being given an opportunity to put their best foot forward on the World Series stage.
“Our preparation has been excellent, with convincing wins at both the Central Coast Sevens and Oceania Sevens tournaments. The team is really looking forward to representing their country in the World Series again.
“The entire squad understands our recent success will make us the team to beat going into the World Series and this is a challenge we are really looking forward to overcoming.”
Australia has won the Women’s Dubai Sevens twice since the tournament started in 2011 with the Aussie 7s winning the 2013 and 2015 tournaments.
Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens Squad for 2016 Dubai Sevens:
Sharni Williams (c)
Shannon Parry (c)
Chloe Dalton
Tiana Penitani
Brooke Anderson
Georgie Friedrichs
Emilee Cherry
Charlotte Caslick
Emma Sykes
Alicia Quirk
Mahalia Murphy
Emma Tonegato
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