Australia won’t be pulling any punches when they take the field for this week’s Oceania 7s tournament in Ballymore, Brisbane.

The Oceania 7s sees 25 teams from across the Pacific – including the Australian men and women – converge on Ballymore Stadium for 66 matches (35 men’s and 31 women’s matches) across three days.

For some, it’s a final tune-up before the new-look HSBC SVNS Series. For others, a chance to secure Olympic qualification for Paris 2024.

Men’s & Women’s Internationals

Australia’s men and women are already assured a place at next year’s Olympic Games due to finishing second and fifth respectively during last season’s World Series.

As such, they will play in pools outside of Olympic qualification, but there’ll be no love lost in their final warm-up tournament before the inaugural (and rebranded) SVNS Series kicks off in Dubai next month (2-3 December).

11 of the 13 Aussie women named are reigning Commonwealth and World Cup champions while five of the Aussie men’s side tasted World Series Victory in 2021-22. 

The Aussie men will battle it out against Fiji, New Zealand, Niue, and an Oceania Barbarians side in Pool A with the top two sides progressing to a Oceania final for regional bragging rights.

Meanwhile, Australia’s women will tackle a New Zealand Development outfit five times across three days. Don’t be fooled by the development tag – the Black Fern 7s are the reigning World Series champs, and will be fielding a strong team of promising young talent.

Men’s & Women’s Olympic Qualifiers

The stakes here are enormous, with 18 teams fighting for just two Olympic berths. 

Only one of ten men’s sides will qualify for Paris 2024 while only one of eight women’s teams will book their ticket to France next year. 

The men’s Olympic qualifiers see pre-tournament favourites Tonga and Samoa fighting to avoid the repechage with Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, and the Solomon Islands among those chasing a major upset.

It’s a massive challenge for Tongan men’s coach Tevita Tuifua, who is hoping to steer his country to a maiden berth at the Olympics.

“We understand that the Oceania 7s will be a highly competitive tournament with strong teams vying for success. However, we believe in our squad’s abilities, their work ethic, and the lessons learned from past challenges. We are eager to bring our best to the competition and strive for success once again,” Tuifua said.

Source: Rugby AU