Australian Men’s Sevens coach John Manenti has confirmed four debutants as they prepare for the fifth leg of the Sevens World Series in Singapore.
Rebels backrower Michael Icely headlines the new faces, joined by Eastwood teammate Matt Gonzalez and Shute Shield standouts Ben Marr and Tim Clements.
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Nick Malouf returns to the side as captain, with the Singapore leg marking his 43rd World Series event.
He is joined in the squad by experienced quartet Henry Hutchison, Dietrich Roache, Josh Turner and Maurice Longbottom, looking to build on their silver medal from Seville.
Meanwhile, Corey Toole will make his first appearance since signing on as a full-time member of the squad, inking a deal keeping him in the program until the 2022 Rugby World Cup.
“I’m delighted to give an opportunity, from four proven performers in the Shute Shield of the past five years. Tim, Matt, Ben & Michael have all been consistently around the best players in the Sydney competition and we look forward to seeing their impact on the World Series," Manenti said in a statement.
"Our pool games against, Samoa, Spain and England will provide us with plenty of challenges on day one & we don’t need to look any further at this stage.
"We’re still a very inexperienced team but have taken great confidence from our silver in Seville and learnt a great deal from our recent games against Fiji and New Zealand. Building combinations and momentum towards the Commonwealth Games is large part of this trip as well as continuing to establishing our identity as the Australian Men’s 7s team."
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The team will open up the two-day event at the National Stadium against Samoa on April 9 (1:50 AEST), who are making their return to the World Series along with Olympic champions Fiji and Commonwealth Games champions New Zealand.
This will be followed by Spain (4:56 pm), having last played them in 2019 (London), with Maurice Longbottom running in a hat-trick in the 42-12 thumping at Twickenham.
Pool B action will finish with a blockbuster match-up against England (8:35pm), who defeated John Manenti's side in Malaga in the third-place play-off.
All games will be available to watch live and free in Australia via world.rugby, World Rugby YouTube and the World Rugby Sevens Series Facebook page.
- Henry Hutchison, Randwick, 36 caps
- Michael Icely*, Eastwood
- Corey Toole, Gungahlin Eagles, 4 caps
- Dietrich Roach, Western Sydney Two Blues, 4 caps
- Tim Clements*, Sydney University
- Darby Lancaster, Eastern Suburbs, 1 cap
- Josh Turner, Manly Marlins, 10 caps
- Matt Gonzalez*, Eastwood
- Stuart Dunbar, Sydney University, 5 caps
- Nick Malouf, University of Queensland, 42 caps
- Maurice Longbottom, Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team, 23 caps
- Henry Paterson, Eastern Suburbs, 3 caps
- Ben Marr*, Warringah
*Denotes Australian debut
Saturday 9 April
Australia v Samoa, 1:50pm AEST
Australia v Spain, 4:56pm AEST
Australia v England, 8:35pm AEST
