Sera Naiqama: HSBC SVNS in Perth kicks off ‘huge year’ for women’s rugby in Australia

She may have left her sevens days behind, but Australian international second row Sera Naiqama cannot think of a better way to kick-start a massive 12 months for the sport she loves than with the HSBC SVNS Series stop in Perth. 

The four-time women’s Super Rugby winner knows what she is talking about. She was inside HBF Park for every minute of the 2024 tournament. 

“Once the gates were open until the last game was played, there were women and girls everywhere,” Naiqama, who commentated on the event for Stan Sport, said. “They were genuinely excited.” 

‘They are so easy to love’

Large parts of the women’s game, including Super Rugby, remain semi-professional in Australia and the women’s sevens set up has long been the benchmark they are all aiming for. 

Olympic champions in 2016, and frequent winners on the global circuit, sport-mad Australians have long been aware of just how good their female sevens team is. But bringing the stars to perform at home in a global tournament takes it to a whole other level.

“They are so easy to love,” Naiqama said with a smile. “They are absolutely stacked with talent. You look at the calibre of players that they have. 

“Charlotte Caslick [three-time Olympian and Australia’s longest serving sevens player] has passed the captaincy baton to Isabella Nasser, who I think represents a new age in this team. She really leads from the front. And then obviously we have the World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year, Maddison Levi. Players like her, and her sister Teagan, really ramp it up.” 

‘It’s not one size fits all’

Naiqama knows how critical sevens is to growing rugby. She, like so many other youngsters, found her way to 15s via the high thrills shorter version of the game. 

“Inclusivity is a word that is constantly thrown around but when I look at the broad range of athletes that I have in my team (Naiqama has recently signed for Super Rugby franchise Western Force) and then I look at a sevens squad it’s so broad,” the 29-year-old said. 

“It’s not one size fits all and I think that’s just a really beautiful thing about rugby. From every level, whether it’s grassroots, to semi-professional to the top end, every player looks different and the unique power of each one is so valued in the team.” 

‘Fantastic opportunity to see some of our best stars’

Naiqama loves the fact that girls all over Australia will first have the chance to watch the sevens superstars in action, and then later in the year the 15-a-side stars will take centre stage. 

“It’s a huge year,” Naiqama, who currently has 13 caps for Australia, said. “I think it’s safe to say that many sevens and 15s players alike have their sights set on hopefully making that final [Rugby World Cup 2025] squad, but the way that the Perth SVNS sets us up just reinforces the narrative to the Australian audience that rugby is being played here in our country. 

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to see some of our best stars. Then, hopefully, because they’re engaged with that, they’ll be even more inclined to follow the Super Rugby women’s competition, which will follow shortly after.” 

‘Games at home matter most’

This mutually beneficial relationship stretches all the way to the top. Naiqama points out that ‘at least nine’ of the Australia women’s HSBC SVNS squad have – like her – put their hand up for selection for RWC 2025. 

This only increases the significance of what they produce on home soil in Perth. 

“It’s so important,” Naiqama, onsite in Perth as a tournament ambassador, stressed. “Following their disappointment here in Perth last year in the Cup Final against Ireland [Australia lost 19-14], I guess they carried that quite personally, because as an international player myself, I know the games you get to play at home are the ones that matter most.” 

While Naiqama is looking forward to seeing eternal rivals New Zealand, the new faces in the USA squad and the ever-exciting French, she knows the result she wants for the fans and the future of the game. 

“As an Australian player myself there's nothing more I’d love to see than those girls lift that trophy because in my eyes, maybe my biased eyes, they thoroughly deserve the accolade,” she said, before looking ahead to possibly teaming up with Caslick, Levi and co later in the year. 

“What these seven skills offer is nothing short of extraordinary. They will be such an addition to the squad, not only because of their skill set and their speed, but the fact that they've been in such professional setups for the majority of their careers.”