The Qantas Australian women’s head coach Tim Walsh has chosen a mix of youth and gold medal experience for the Oceania Sevens Championship. While Australian men’s sevens head coach Andy Friend is throwing open opportunities for young players to vie for selection in his final 2016/17 squad.

The two-day tournament gets underway at the ANZ Stadium, Suva on Friday.

Friend has named a squad that includes a raft of young and upcoming talent with only two players older than 22-years of age making the trip.

With one eye on re-building the Aussie 7s men’s team in the post 2016 Rio Olympic Games era, Friend has urged his young charges to take their opportunities.

The Australian women’s sevens team will give young squad members Georgie Friedrichs, Emma Sykes, Hannah Southwell and the recently signed Shanice Parker the chance to mix with Australia’s Olympic heroes.

With less than a month until the opening round of the World Rugby Sevens Series gets underway on December 1, Walsh wants his charges to continue their progression following on from their victory at the Central Coast Sevens in October.

“We have had a great preparation period leading into this tournament and we are looking forward to continuing to build momentum towards Dubai. We know that this tournament is going to be incredibly tough and we will need to adapt to the challenges that come our way.

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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