Olympic gold medallist Ellia Green will make her women’s sevens comeback for Australia in Auckland on Friday.
The fan favourite will take a big stride closer to the Tokyo Olympics with her involvement in the exciting six-game series against New Zealand’s Black Ferns.
The series, across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, is just what both teams need after the matches were organised to fill the void left by the cancellation of World Series events because of the pandemic.
For Green, a well-managed return at this elite level is ideal after her lay-off to recover from knee surgery to repair a wear-and-tear injury.
“Ellia has been running at very close to top-end pace at every session over the past bit of time and has integrated into full training over the past three weeks,” head coach Manenti said.
“We’ll play her in at least three of the six games and give her that good step up into playing at this level again.
“Ellia played our internal tournament in February and she hasn’t really missed a great deal because there’s not been a lot to miss.
“This is the series the girls have all been craving...top opposition, tournament conditions and the chance to push for Olympic selection.”
Manenti has 18 players in Auckland and all know the tighter selection cut is to 12 girls and a shadow player for the Olympic squad.
“Getting some strong competitive footy and combinations going are two key things and players showing where they are at, regarding Olympic selection, is another,” Manenti said.
Manenti was delighted with the way Rio Olympics gold medallist Chloe Dalton and Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea returned from injury in the Aon University Sevens series last weekend on the Gold Coast.
The dynamic Lefau-Fakaosilea was a matchwinner for Griffith University while Dalton tested her back the best way possible.
“Chloe told me she was hitting rucks she might not normally have hit just to test herself out. She was making tackles too so it was all positive after both girls were a little rusty to start as expected,” Manenti said.
Playing two matches at Eden Park on Saturday will be a treat, one either side of the Blues-Waratahs Super Rugby Trans-Tasman clash.
Australian Women’s Sevens Travelling Squad:
Charlotte Caslick, Bond University
Lillian Dick, Griffith University
Dominique Du Toit, Melbourne University
Ellia Green, University of Melbourne
Demi Hayes, Griffith University
Madison Higgins-Ashby, University of Newcastle
Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea, Griffith University
Faith Nathan, University of Newcastle
Sariah Paki, University of Technology, Sydney
Shannon Parry, Bond University
Evania Pelite, Bond University
Cassandra Staples, Sydney University
Sharni Williams, University of Canberra
Bienne Terita, University of Technology, Sydney
Georgia Hannaway, University of Queensland
Chloe Dalton, University of Technology, Sydney
Tia Hinds, Sydney University
Lori Cramer, Sydney University
Fixtures:
Friday May 21: Grammar Tec, Auckland
8:00am – Black Ferns Sevens v Australian Women’s Sevens
8:30am – All Black Sevens v Australian Men’s Sevens
1:30pm – Australian Women’s Sevens v Black Ferns Sevens
2:00pm – Australian Men’s Sevens v All Black Sevens
Saturday May 22: Eden Park, Auckland
1:00 pm – Black Ferns Sevens v Australian Women’s Sevens
1:23pm – All Black Sevens v Australian Men’s Sevens
4:40pm – Australian Women’s Sevens v Black Ferns Sevens
5:03pm – Australian Men’s Sevens v All Black Sevens
Sunday May 23: Grammar Tec, Auckland
9:00am – Black Ferns Sevens v Australian Women’s Sevens
9:30am – All Black Sevens v Australian Men’s Sevens
1:00pm – Australian Women’s Sevens v Black Ferns Sevens
1:30 pm – Australian Men’s Sevens v All Black Sevens
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