Australia will battle with traditional sporting rivals Great Britain in both the men’s and women’s pools of this month's Perth Sevens.
In the group stage, drawn on Thursday, Australia’s women will have to get through Canada (world No.5), South Africa (No.11) and the Brits (No.9) if they are to make it three tournament wins in a row.
The men take on Ireland (No.5), the USA (No.10) and Britain (No.11) in what looks a favourable draw for the January 26-28 showpiece at Perth’s HBF Park.
Australia’s men are yet to taste tournament success this sevens season, most recently falling short 45-12 against Argentina in the final at Cape Town last month.
Coach John Manenti said getting out of the group would not be a procession.
“Ireland have been consistently finishing in the top four, Great Britain gets better the more they play together, and the USA have a host of superstars,” he said.
“The men's competition is tough, there are no soft games.”
New Zealand are in the men’s Pool C in a Pacific-centric group featuring Fiji and Samoa.
Coming off tournament wins in Dubai and Cape Town to start the campaign, Australia’s women should have no trouble progressing from their pool and into the knockout stages.
Earlier on Thursday, Australia’s women’s coach Tim Walsh confirmed Demi Hayes is likely to miss the Paris Olympics as she recovers from knee surgery.
Hayes hurt her ACL in the side’s win against Ireland in the quarter-finals of the Cape Town tournament last month.
Maddison Levi will also miss time at the Perth tournament as she serves a three-game game for a red card in the final in Cape Town.
“After a nice break, we're fresh physically and mentally and ready to go after a good week and a half of training,” Walsh said.
“Other than Demi being injured, we're at a good fitness level, and we've got a really strong squad to pick a team from.
“We haven't played those teams in a while, so we're excited. We know how strong they are, particularly Canada.”
PERTH SEVENS POOLS
MEN
POOL A: Argentina, South Africa, Canada, Spain
POOL B: Australia, Ireland, Great Britain, USA
POOL C: Fiji, New Zealand, France, Samoa
WOMEN
POOL A: Australia, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa
POOL B: France, Fiji, Brazil, Spain
POOL C: New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Japan
