Australia’s women’s Sevens are likely going to have to walk away with the cup if they want to take the World Series trophy home this weekend, but co-captain Shannon Parry says that's just fine.
The Aussies currently sit on top of the standings but are just four points ahead of New Zealand, who beat them 46-0 in the Canada Sevens final.
It’s been less than a month since the women last played, a fairly rapid turnaround compared to gaps that are often double that in their schedule, but Parry said they were fresh and ready to go.
“It has been really quick,” she said.
“Obviously off the back of Canada, we were fortunate enough to have a few days off with family and friends and recharge the batteries and then it was a week and a half before we were off again.
“So, it has been a bit of a slow start to Sydney and then the next three tournaments have been bang, bang, bang.
“You always want to play as much rugby as you can but it has been a very gruelling toll on the body.”
Australia and New Zealand have had some up and down contests this year - the Aussies won in Sydney 34-0, before going down in extra-time at the Commonwealth Games and losing the Canada final - but the power is with Australia in France.
“It's going to come down to the wire, there's no doubt about that,” Parry said.
“We're in control of our own destiny, which is the best part about it.
“We've got the game plans to take it all away, so for us it's about executing that and making sure we play the right players when they need to be played.”
Parry said the side had focused on making sure they don’t let chances go begging in Paris.
“There were obviously a few things, just our attention to detail and our execution levels weren't where they needed to be in attack and in defence,” she said.
“So, we've gone back, we've worked very hard on our defence and very hard on our attacking ability and making sure that if there is that opportunity to score, we do score and we finish that try.
“It's been hard, it's been gruelling, a lot of bone on bone sessions but we needed to do it and we're not going to shy away from that.”
The Aussies take on Fiji, Russia and Canada in their Paris Sevens pool, with the tournament kicking off Friday.
Australia’s women’s Sevens take on Fiji on Friday at 10:44pm AEST, LIVE STREAMED at worldrugby.org.
FIXTURES
All times AEST
Friday June 8
Australia vs Fiji, 10:44pm
Saturday June 9
Australia vs Russia, 1:28am
Australia vs Canada, 4:12am