Rugby Australia is pleased to announce the Australia A Women\u2019s Sevens squad to compete in the Pirika 7s hosted by Hokkaido Barbarians in Sapporo on June 6-7.<\/p>\n
With the support of the Australian Rugby Foundation, last year\u2019s semi-finalists will return to compete for the title and depart for Japan on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Australian contracted players Mackenzie Davis, Amahli Hala, Bridget Clark, Kiiahla Duff, Rhani Hagan and Ruby Nicholas join a strong group of NSW and Queensland talent who starred during the Next Gen 7s series.<\/p>\n
Darci Turinui and Townsville product Layne Prince, the respective daughters of Wallabies legend Morgan Turinui and NRL premiership-winner Scott Prince, also get an opportunity.<\/p>\n
Australia A Women\u2019s Head Coach Lachlan Parkinson said: \u201cThe squad selected is a fantastic balance of World Series players and the best next generation Australia has to offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix players from the full-time national squad will play alongside players who excelled in the 2026 Next Gen series and Australian Youth programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team have been victorious several times but are coming off a third-place finish in 2025 the team will be looking to get back in the winner’s circle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith support of the Australian Rugby Foundation, it has allowed the players an opportunity for not only exposure and tournament play but also to experience another fantastic culture and country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The squad will depart for Japan on Sunday with a week\u2019s preparation before the opening round fixtures.<\/p>\n
Participating teams feature a range across Japan including local club Hokkaido Barbarians Diana.<\/p>\n
Holly Kelsall, General Manager, Australian Rugby Foundation said: \u201cWomen\u2019s Rugby in Australia has enormous momentum, but real progress comes from investing in talented young players before they reach the top of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cInternational experiences like this accelerate development, build confidence and expose athletes to new environments and styles of play.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Australian Rugby Foundation is proud to support these young women as they represent Australia in Japan and take another important step in their rugby journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia are coming off a third-place finish in 2025 but have previously won the competition on several occasions, touring Japan for almost a decade. <\/p>\n
Australia A Women’s squad for Pirika Sevens<\/p>\n
Amahli Hala \u2013 Queensland RedsAnaia Cruickshank \u2013 NSW WaratahsBridget Clark \u2013 NSW WaratahsCobi Ryan-Last \u2013 NSW WaratahsDarci Turinui \u2013 NSW WaratahsKiiahla Duff \u2013 NSW WaratahsLayne Prince \u2013 Queensland RedsLeilani Hills \u2013 Queensland RedsMackenzie Davis \u2013 ACT BrumbiesRhani Hagan \u2013 Queensland RedsRuby Nicholas \u2013 ACT BrumbiesTiki Calliste \u2013 Queensland Reds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rugby Australia is pleased to announce the Australia A Women\u2019s Sevens squad to compete in the Pirika 7s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,31153,85],"class_list":["post-701143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-sevens","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}