Aussie Sevens stars Teagan Levi, Faith Nathan and Amahli Hala will spice up the Queensland Reds challenge in the ISPS HANDA Next Gen 7s finals at Ballymore Stadium on Saturday.
The frontrunning NSW Waratahs (Piper Simons and Kiiahla Duff) and the ACT Brumbies (Kaitlin Shave, Sidney Taylor and Kahli Henwood) will also be reinforced with extra speed and polish.
Hala’s classy touches were a major asset in the previous round in Canberra.
Having Gold Coaster Levi and the pacy experience of Nathan also bolstering an injury-hit Reds squad will make a major difference.
“Some of our young girls might be a bit star-struck at first but it’s great for them to be able to rub shoulders with world-class sevens players,” said Queensland coach Shannon Parry, the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist.
“Tapping into their brains and mindset can happen in various ways.
“It might be around making crucial decisions on the field, what to do around off-field recovery between games or locker room chats.
“All they do is see Teagan and Faith on TV so it’s exciting to have this chance at Ballymore.”
It is less curious to see Sydneysider Nathan playing for Queensland and the Queensland trio of Shave, Taylor and Henwood playing for the Brumbies when you understand some of the reasoning.
Nathan has scored most of her 126 tries for Australia in World Rugby’s HSBC SVNS Series with lightning dashes out wide as a finisher or centre.
“There’s consideration now that Faith could be used as more of a ball player, a controller. We were short in that area so the player allocation has considered the balance of teams,” Parry said.
Levi ‘s power running to create forward momentum will be valuable.
Teenager Madi Pomerenke looked likely to be ruled out of the series with a hip injury but the Wynnum State High student has made a rapid recovery to be fit for Saturday.
It’s great news to have the pacy Shave back playing in front of home fans in Brisbane.
While she has played internal matches with the national squad in Sydney, this is her first tournament outing since she ruptured knee ligaments at the Paris Olympics in July last year.
Taylor too is coming back from a major knee injury.
The Waratahs (28 points) have dominated the opening three rounds of Next Gen 7s by racking up nine wins and just a single loss to Queensland on the Sunshine Coast in the opening round.
Watch the ISPS HANDA Next Gen 7s live via rugby.com.au/videos and the Rugby Xplorer app.
It's a cut-throat finals format on Saturday and every match is vital. Each side will play two matches in round-robin play between 9am and 12pm to determine a first, second and third ranking.
From there, the first-ranked side earns a break and progresses straight to the 3pm decider, where they'll face the winner of second vs third from 1:30pm.
2025 ISPS HANDA Next Gen 7s Round Four (Finals)
Ballymore Stadium
9:00am - Waratahs v Brumbies (ranking)
10:30am - Brumbies v Reds (ranking)
12:00pm - Waratahs v Reds (ranking)
1:30pm - Second v Third
3:00pm - First v Winner (Second v Third)
2025 ISPS HANDA Next Gen 7s (Round Four Squads)
REDS: Madi Collins, Faith Nathan, Amahli Hala, Kaelyn Passi, Sophie Duff, Charli Nikola, Teagan Levi, Madison Pomerenke, Tahli Devine, Taleah Ackland, Tahlia Evans, Carys Dallinger, Emmisyn Wynyard
WARATAHS: Milly Whitaker, Edie Burke, Anaia Cruickshank, Piper Simons, Kiiahla Duff, Chanel Williams, Damita Betham, Milla Elaro, Tatum Bird, Coco Marsters, Anika McCarthy, Darci Turinui, Luisana Vesikula
BRUMBIES: Biola Dawa, Bonnie Brewer, Makenna Ravouvou, Georgia Hayes, Ella Ryan, Ash Bishop, Brooklyn Teki Joyce, Chioma Enyi, Jenna Aiono, Sidney Taylor, Kahli Henwood, Kaitlin Shave, Adelaide Norris
You can follow all the action from the finals of the Next Gen 7s via the live stream on the Rugby Australia website from 9.30am on Sunday.
