Briars Rugby Team Touches Down

The Briars Women's Sevens Rugby team from Sydney, Australia, has arrived in the Solomon Islands to play a series of friendly matches against the Solomon Islands Women's Sevens team at the Town Ground Rugby field this Saturday. These matches are part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) week, during which local coaches and referees will have the opportunity to put into practice the new skills they have learned in workshops throughout the week.

This tour was made possible through collaboration between the Solomon Islands Rugby Union Federation (SIRUF), Rugby Australia, and the Australian Government. These friendly matches aim to support and promote the development of women's rugby in the Pacific region and foster closer working relationships between the two countries. Solomon Islands national sevens technical coach Chris Nay stated that the upcoming matches are part of their development plan for the end of the year, with the Oceania Sevens tournament expected to be another opportunity for them to play against international teams and continue improving their rugby level.

Coach Nay said, “For me to coach the Solomon Islands Women’s Sevens, it’s really important for us because if we don’t get to play outside of our islands, we don’t get to learn different ways of playing because we just play each other. So, it’s vital for us to make sure that we get strong opposition here and continue to practice against them so that we can get better and better.”

In addition to the series of matches this Saturday, the visiting team is also reportedly scheduled to visit local schools and villages to develop rugby skills and promote the sport before returning to Australia. The Briars Women’s Sevens team, led by NSW Women’s Rugby Chair Kerry Chikarovski, arrived this afternoon with 12 players and 4 staff members.