With tomorrow marking ten days until the start of the SVNS World Sevens, Women’s head coach Tim Walsh is chomping at the bit to hit the ground running, comparing the new nine-tournament format to that of a ‘World Cup.’
The hunger to get started is further bolstered by Dubai being a happy hunting ground for Australia, with the women’s side having won the last five consecutive titles there.
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“From my point of view, I always love going to Dubai to showcase what you've been doing in the pre-season," Walsh told Rugby.com.au. “It gives it some relevance and something to believe in.
"I think getting to Dubai is great for all different reasons, but kicking off the season, we're always really well prepared. It's hard and fast. It's hot. It just suits us and everyone's just raring to go.”
Walsh is particularly excited to get stuck into the new format, which serves as an exciting change of pace in the tournament’s history and serves as a valuable finals-style format to fill the gap left by the sport's temporary omission from the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
“I think every World Series tournament, they're all pretty prestigious,” Walsh added.
“We want to go out there and win and win the Comm Games, which will return, which is great, but the World Series, the last three events, is like a World Cup.
"It's great having the World Series this year up to nine tournaments, and then they've split it into the six [regular season] and the three [finals]. So from a coaching point of view, it's fantastic to have a healthy, big and experienced squad.”
Walsh and the players have had a near-perfect preseason, with several tournaments in Fiji and Queensland, and the opportunity to play regularly against arch-rivals New Zealand, a clash that the head coach compares to a ‘sibling rivalry.’
With the likes of the USA, Fiji, and Japan also getting involved, Walsh believes the side is in a good place to hit the ground running when the first whistle blows at The Sevens Stadium on November 29th.
“It is very handy to be able to duck over to Fiji, New Zealand and vice versa and then having Japan, USA, they know to get better, they probably want to play against us so they jumped on a plane and came down here and played.
“[We’re] fortunate and great prep to play world-class teams, but of all different styles....Australia and New Zealand are probably without doubt the leaders, in terms of numbers and stuff like that. Part of that is that we are neighbours and we play each other all the time so, it's a bit of a sibling rivalry.”
