The Men’s and Women’s Sevens squads have made the lone change ahead of the opening round of the SVNS World Championship in Hong Kong from April 17.

It marks the 50th anniversary of the famous event, while kicking off the three-leg championship that will also take place in Valladolid and Bordeaux, expanding to three-day, 12-team events.

Watch the 2025-2026 HSBC SVNS Series live and on demand via Stan Sport.

Bienne Terita and James McGregor make their return to the squads, with both teams finishing in the top three during the regular season.

The Women will open their campaign against South Africa (17 April, 2:25 pm AEST), who took out the SVNS 2 title, then face Great Britain and Canada.

Coach Tim Walsh enjoys the luxury of a near-full strength team to pick from, with only Charlotte Caslick (pregnancy) unavailable.

“We head off to Round One of the World Championships in iconic Hong Kong – the traditional home of Rugby Sevens,” Walsh said.

“The first six legs have provided the squad with a lot of confidence and belief of performing well.

“The Black Ferns obviously go in as favourites but we will only be looking towards our pool games with South Africa emerging from the SVNS 2 Championship, the ever-improving Great Britain and then Paris silver medallists Canada.”

Meanwhile, the Men will face the returning Kenya (7:56 pm), the USA and New Zealand, with James Turner set for his 25th event.

“We’re excited to start the World Championships at the home of Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong,” coach Liam Barry said.

“It’s a competition restart after six regular rounds and with four additional teams that now adds another layer of pressure to play well and qualify for the World Series in 2027.

“We’ve got a relatively fit and available squad to choose from and the non-selected players will get game time through the Hong Kong 10s played earlier in the week.”

The top eight teams will qualify for SVNS 1 in 2026-27, with the bottom four teams relegated to SVNS 2.

Every round of the HSBC SVNS World Championships will be shown exclusive, ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.

Australia Women’s Sevens team for 2026 HSBC SVNS World Championships Hong Kong:

2. Amahli Hala – 7 events

3. Faith Nathan – 38 events

5. Teagan Levi – 30 events

6. Madison Ashby (c) – 31 events

8. Kaitlin Shave – 12 events

9. Tia Hinds – 27 events

10. Isabella Nasser (c) – 23 events

12. Maddison Levi – 32 events

13. Heidi Dennis – 11 events

15. Kahli Henwood – 10 events

22. Bienne Terita – 20 events

55. Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea – 15 events

65. Sariah Paki – 40 events

Australia Men’s Sevens team for 2026 HSBC SVNS World Championships Hong Kong:

1 Henry Hutchison (c) – 65 events

2. Ben Dowling – 26 events

3. James McGregor – 6 events

4. Dietrich Roache – 33 events

7. Josh Turner – 43 events

10. Ben Dalton – 15 events

11. Maurice Longbottom – 51 events

13. Jayden Blake – 12 events

14. James Turner – 24 events

23. Aden Ekanayake – 13 events

33. Harry Wilson – 6 events

49. Archie Saunders – 2 events

77. Wallace Charlie – 7 events

Players unavailable for selection

Will Cartwright (shoulder) – 2026/2027 season

Charlotte Caslick (pregnancy) – 2026/2027 season

Henry Paterson (knee) – 2026/2027 season

HSBC SVNS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS HONG KONG SCHEDULE

AUSTRALIA MEN

Friday 17 April: Australia v Kenya (7:56pm AEST)

Friday 17 April: Australia v USA (11:10pm AEST)

Saturday 18 April: Australia v New Zealand (3:47pm AEST)

AUSTRALIA WOMEN

Friday 17 April: Australia v South Africa (2:25pm AEST)

Friday 17 April: Australia v Great Britain (5:35pm AEST)

Saturday 18 April: Australia v Canada (1:27pm AEST)