One Percenters: Sydney Uni name Aon squad, Marler finds time for mischief at Twickenham

Sun, Aug 25, 2019, 7:00 AM
Beth Newman, Emma Greenwood and Iain Payten
by Beth Newman, Emma Greenwood and Iain Payten
Jakiya Whitfeld is one of the Sydney Uni stars in the Aon Uni 7s squad. Photo: Karen Watson
Jakiya Whitfeld is one of the Sydney Uni stars in the Aon Uni 7s squad. Photo: Karen Watson

Sydney Uni became the latest team to announce their Aon Uni 7s squad with plenty of stars packed into their group.

The rugby nursery was an addition to the series in 2018 and though they showed some promise, they will be looking to take a step up when the 2019 iteration kicks off.

While they certainly have some established stars in Wallaroos dup Grace Hamilton and Emily Chancellor, the Sydney siders have plenty of young Sevens talent as well.

Last season, teenager Jakiya Whitfeld lit up the series and there'll be plenty of eyes on her again this season when the series kicks off on September 14 in Brisbane.

Whitfled has been in the national mix off the back of her breakout tournament and there'll be plenty of youngsters lining up to try and do the same this year.


SQUAD

Sydney Uni Aon Uni 7s squad

Iliseva Batibasaga

Sophie Bell

Emily Chancellor

Freya Clayhills

Nat Crow

Piper Duck

Grace Hamilton

Fiona Jones

Kirrily Laws

Jemima McCalman

Claudia McLaren

Lauren Murty

Rhiannon Parker

Jordan Parsonage

Ana Raduva

Andie Robinson

Courtney Schultz

Matilda Vaughan-Fowler

Nina Vistisen

Barbara Waddell

Emma Wade

Olivia White

Jakiya Whitfeld

Claire Woolmington

Wallabies welcomed to New Caledonia

The Wallabies were given a warm welcome in New Caledonia, as they embark on their final pre-World Cup camp outside of Japan.

Australia will spend 10 days in Noumea, in what has been described as a "Survivor-style" program, with plenty of gruelling sessions on the agenda.

Winger Marika Koroibete is still absent from the squad for family reasons and it is unclear when the speedster will link up with the side.

Koroibete was in Sydney with the team earlier this week but returned to Melbourne for a family emergency, missing Friday's World Cup squad announcement.

It is expected that he would join the training group during the Noumea camp but his exact arrival is yet to be confirmed.

The Wallabies will return to Sydney ahead of their September 7 Test against Samoa in Parramatta, before heading to Japan on Sunday September 8.

Club vs country clashes wrap up big weekend

There were some big Test matches in the Northern Hemisphere this weekend but something that provided an extra thrill for domestic teams were the chance to take on international sides ahead of the World Cup.

Australia's Western Force was narrowly edged out by Tonga in their clash on Saturday, going down 19-15 after holding a 10-7 at half-time.

The Force will head into NRC action next weekend, while Tonga will take on the All Blacks a week later, in their final World Cup warm-up.

A little further afield, Irish powerhouses Leinster proved too strong for Canada, beating out the Test team 38-35 in their matchup.

Marler keeps the mischief in Test rugby

Joe Marler made a shock return from international retirement last month and the prop showed this weekend that his cheeky attitude certainly hasn't dimmed in just under a year out of Test rugby.

As England ran out for their clash with Ireland, Marler couldn't help but throw a bit of niggle the way of Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong.

Marler drifted out of England's line as they ran out of the tunnel to put a sneaky shoulder on Furlong, before England ran out and flew to a 57-15 victory.

Classics hit Samoa

The Gold Blooded tour might be over but the Classic Wallabies are still on the march with Justin Harrison, Lote Tuqiri and Morgan Turinui heading to Samoa this week.

The trio travelled to the Pacific nation to lead some coaching clinics and visit some schools over a five-day trip.

Harrison said the program was aimed at trying to use rugby as a way to help the local communities.

"All of the language is around how do we engage the community in Manu Samoa, how do we promote healthy lifestyles and how do we use rugby as that deliverable vehicle?," he said.

 They had some special duties while there too - Harrison and Tuqiri were charged with letting some of the current Test players know of their World Cup selection, a responsibility they relished.

Road to Olympics revealed

Everyone knows when the Olympics Sevens kicks off next year, but there's a long road ahead for the Aussie men and women before they get there.

World Rugby officially confirmed the series dates recently, giving fans a clear schedule of when they can see the major contenders going head-to-head.

This season's tour kicks off in Dubai before heading to the first ever joint men's and women's Cape Town tournament

Australia's men have an Oceania qualifier to get through in November before the World Series kicks off, while the women

In other Sevens news, Australia's World Series refereeing contingent have been retained for the 2019-20 season with Amy Perrett and Tyler Miller (Women's Series) and Damon Murphy and Jordan Way (Men's Series) all blowing the whistle on the circuit.

SCHEDULE

2019-20 Sevens World Series schedule

Joint men's and women's

December 5-7 - Dubai

December 13-15 - Cape Town

January 25-26 - Hamilton

February 1-2 - Sydney

April 3-5 - Hong Kong

May 30-31 - Paris

Women's standalone

October 5-6 - Glendale

May 2-3 - Langford

Men's standalone

February 29 - March 1 - Los Angeles

March 7-8 - Vancouver

April 11-12 - Singapore

May 23-24 - London

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