By JONATHON HOWARD
THE world’s elite rugby union players are converging on Noosa this week to take part in the town’s biggest ever international sporting tournament.
The Noosa International Sevens Festival will span three days and will officially kick off at 8am tomorrow (Friday 3 October) until 5pm on Sunday (5 October).
In surprise twist, the Australian team will be led into the tournament by its former head coach, Michael O’Connor, who was asked to take on the job by his successor, Geraint John.
O’Connor stepped down from the senior coaching role earlier this year but accepted the invitation to look after the squad in Noosa with John maintaining a “watching brief” throughout the weekend.
The HSBC World Sevens Series kicks off just one week after Noosa and John told media sources he would be looking to involve all of the squad.
“Make no mistake, the event in Noosa is a real chance for the players to impress me,” John said.
Meanwhile, entire resorts have been booked out to accommodate players, support crews, officials, families and fans arriving from all over the world to take part in the Noosa International Sevens Festival.
Many players from the 55 teams taking part have been in town since the start of the week, training and preparing for the weekend’s showdown.
The Oceania Sevens have been incorporated into the Noosa Festival this year and the men’s tournament has been given a massive lift with World Series and World Cup holders New Zealand taking part for the first time.
Without doubt, the men’s and women’s teams from New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa and Australia will grab most of the attention, but with a total of 19 full national teams taking part in the Oceania Sevens tournaments, there is bound to be plenty of on-field action.
International Rugby Board officials have described the Noosa-hosted Oceania competition as “the strongest ever” and no-one will be taking it easy with the best placed teams securing places in the World Sevens Series tournaments.
Australia and New Zealand have been kept apart in the initial pool games on Friday, but could face each other as the Oceania event moves into its final knockout stages on Saturday.
Full ticketing and programme information at: www.noosainternationalsevens.com.au
