Manly product Beau Morrison is in line to make his Australian Rugby Sevens debut for the second round of the HSBC SVNS world series in Cape Town this weekend (Dec 6-7).
Australia Men’s coach Liam Barry has included Morrison in his 13-man squad for the tournament following a hamstring injury to veteran Maurice Longbottom during the Dubai grand final.
Morrison is one of two changes for Barry with Ben Dowling also returning from a quad injury that kept him out of the world series opener.
Morrison could be the fourth debutant blooded this season after maiden events for Ethan McFarland, Harry Wilson and Will Cartwright in Dubai last weekend.
The 20-year-old grew up on the Northern Beaches in Sydney and attended Knox Grammar before playing his senior rugby for Sydney University.
Morrison has represented the Australia Under 20s in the past 18 months, touring South Africa and Italy before joining the national Sevens squad this season.
Australia Men’s Sevens coach Liam Barry said: "I was very pleased with the effort and grit shown by a young group last week.
"The team were bitterly disappointed to lose the final but realise we are still not clinical enough at certain times.
“They are an inexperienced group with three debutants and five players playing less than 10 tournaments.
"It was a proud moment for Ethan, Will, Harry and their families as they represented Australia for the first time
"Looking forward to Cape Town this weekend where we welcome Ben Dowling back and a possible debut for Beau Morrison."
Meanwhile, Australia Women’s Sevens coach Tim Walsh has made three changes to the squad that claimed silver in Dubai as attention turns to the Cape Town event.
Bridget Clark, Kahli Henwood and Kiiahla Duff come into the 13 after helping guide Australia A to the International Invitational title in Dubai last week.
The trio replace Kaitlin Shave, Sariah Paki and Tia Hinds as Walsh looks to take advantage of his depth and rotate his players with a short turnaround ahead.
Australia Women's Sevens coach Tim Walsh said: "Managing short, medium and long-term goals, our program strategy remains unchanged after our Dubai campaign.
"I am confident in picking any one of our fit players. This week I have made three changes and brought in Kiiahla Duff, Kahli Henwood and Bridget Clark who have all come off a great Australia A victory in Dubai."
Australia Women have drawn France, Canada and Japan in the pool matches while Australia Men will meet Argentina, Spain and France for the final tournament of 2025.
Watch every match of the SVNS World Series live and on-demand, exclusively on Stan Sport.
2. Amahli Hala – 3 events
3. Faith Nathan – 33 events
4. Mackenzie Davis – 7 events
5. Teagan Levi – 26 events
6. Madison Ashby (c) – 26 events
10. Isabella Nasser (c) – 18 events
12. Maddison Levi – 27 events
13. Heidi Dennis – 7 events
14. Bridget Clark – 7 events
15. Kahli Henwood 7 events
22. Bienne Terita – 17 events
23. Ruby Nicholas – 11 events
28. Kiiahla Duff – 7 events
1. Henry Hutchison (c) – 60 events
2. Ben Dowling – 21 events
3. James McGregor – 3 events
4. Dietrich Roache – 29 events
7. Josh Turner – 38 events
9. Will Cartwright – 1 event
10. Ben Dalton – 10 events
13. Jayden Blake – 7 events
22. Beau Morrison* – debut
23. Aden Ekanayake – 8 events
24. Ethan McFarland – 1 event
33. Harry Wilson – 1 event
77. Wallace Charlie – 2 events
*Denotes possible debut
Players unavailable for selection
- Charlotte Caslick (personal reasons)
- Demi Kennewell (knee) – Vancouver 7s
- Michael Icely (shoulder) – Vancouver 7s
- Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea (shoulder) – Vancouver 7s
- Maurice Longbottom (hamstring) – TBC
- Henry Paterson (knee) – 2026/2027 season
- James Turner (foot) – Vancouver 7s
HSBC SVNS WORLD SERIES CAPE TOWN 2025/2026
AUSTRALIA WOMEN
- Saturday, December 6: Australia v France (7:22pm AEDT)
- Saturday, December 6: Australia v Canada (10:38pm AEDT)
- Sunday, December 7: Australia v Japan (2:04am AEDT)
AUSTRALIA MEN
- Saturday, December 6: Australia v Argentina (9:00pm AEDT)
- Sunday, December 7: Australia v Spain (12:16am AEDT)
- Sunday, December 7: Australia v France (3:57am AEDT)
