THE Australian Women's Sevens team has been named for the opening round of the 2019/20 HSBC Sevens World Series in Colorado, United States and it features Rhiannon Byers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the first round of the newly expanded HSBC Women's Sevens World Series that now moves to eight rounds (replacing the previous six), Australia, containing Byers who is the granddaughter of Nowra's Ian and Shirley Usher, will be looking to establish a winning formula in the opening US leg.
The Aussie Sevens will meet Spain, Fiji and Canada in a tough pool C with the first match kicking off on Sunday, October 6 against the Spanish.
The squad sees the return of Cassie Staples, following on from a strong pre-season and performances in the opening round of the Aon University Sevens Series, along with debutant Madison Ashby.
"There is some real excitement among the group to get back out to playing international rugby after a really strong pre-season period," coach John Manenti said.
"This year is a massive year for the women's game; we have the expanded series as well as the Olympics in Japan - this is going to be a great challenge for the game.
"I know we are really looking forward to the next year and to putting in the hard work together for each other.
"Canada, Spain and Fiji present three different styles of rugby for us to deal with, so we will have to be adaptive."
Joining Byers, who has one Aussie cap to her name, in the squad are Shannon Parry, Sharni Williams, Sariah Paki, Cassandra Staples, Emma Tonegato, Evania Pelite, Charlotte Caslick, Madison Ashby, Lauren Brown, Alicia Lucas (nee Quirk), Ellia Green and Yasmin Meakes.