Hayes: Great to have NZ, Fiji back
Defending women’s champions of the HSBC World Sevens Series Australia has welcomed the return of New Zealand and the Fiji Airways Fijiana sevens teams.
New Zealand and the Fijians missed a couple of tournaments last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia women’s co-captain Demi Hayes told World Rugby, that they’re excited to get started after an awesome season.
“We’ve worked really hard this pre-season, so we’re just really excited to start here in Dubai,” Hayes said.
“We love having the best of the best out there to play against so having New Zealand and Fiji back, as they were missing here last year, is really awesome.
“I think our team really vibes a lot when we have an awesome crowd and it’s really loud in Dubai so I think that’ll only help us to perform and I think that will make us play better. It’s awesome to have a big atmosphere.”
Great Britain women’s co-captain Meg Jones said they have had a good six weeks of training.
“This was done with a new coach, new strength and conditioning, new physio, a couple of new faces and also many familiar faces,” she said.
“It’s now opening up the pool of players and making it way more competitive, pushing the performance and our boundaries as much as we can. I think we’re really looking forward to seeing where we are at the moment, and then see where we can go with it. “Dubai is one of the one of the greatest legs and we love coming out here. The views are amazing. The fans are amazing, the whole event is amazing. So yeah, to be out here with the rest of the gang is good, you know, friends off the pitch, but obviously enemies on the pitch. It’s going to be a good test.
“This whole journey is an amazing journey to be part of and hopefully we can make it to the Paris 2024 Olympics, which will be the icing on top of the cake, but in terms of longevity and the future of GB sevens, were also set on pushing the boundaries and creating and sustaining a world class performance.”