The Hong Kong Sevens might be the pinnacle stage of the World Series Sevens, but that hasn’t stopped Tim Walsh from rolling out his youngest squad in a decade for next week’s tournament.

With Charlotte Caslick – the “empress of sevens” – sitting out the rest of the World Series to focus on making a late run to compete at this year’s World Cup in England and Demi Hayes sidelined with injury, Walsh has named a squad with an average of just 21. Two-try Perth hero Heidi Dennis has also been ruled out of the trip due to a knee injury

Amahli Hala is the latest named to debut, with the teenager to get a unique experience as she takes to the new 50,000-Kai Tak Stadium.

“We are fielding our youngest team in our history, our least number of total caps since 2015 (series began in 2012) and our most disruptive preparation ever,” Walsh said.

“A perfect storm for an Aussie Sevens performance demonstrating character and resilience.

“As we are heading into China, we are embracing ancient Chinese wisdom to prepare ourselves for the challenges ahead. ‘True Gold does not fear the flame’ is our mantra.”

Tim Walsh has named Australia’s least experienced and youngest women’s team for the Hong Kong Sevens, but Maddison Levi (R) is back. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

At least the squad has been bolstered by the return of tryscoring machine Maddison Levi and the physical Sariah Paki, but the squad is still missing some serious firepower with Madison Ashby, Bienne Terita, Kaitlin Shave and Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea still sidelined.

While the sight of seeing half-a-dozen of the country’s sidelined would be a concern for most nations, Walsh isn’t sweating and believes ultimately it will help the women’s program in the long run.

“Our unavailable players are a pretty strong team,” Walsh told The Roar.

“If you look at the program and the players coming through, and the sidelined ones as well, it’s going to be a formidable team with a lot of depth.

“You always look at the positives and these young girls are getting game time and experience and building their trade, and hopefully there will be a time in the not so distant future where everyone’s fit and I have some massive selection headaches and some serious competition at training.”

Caslick’s absence, of course, is the most glaring omission.

The 30-year-old, three-time Olympian has been front and centre of Walsh’s squad for more than a decade and has featured in every successful tournament since debuting in 2013.

Walsh, who has leaned heavily on the attacking weapon over the years, but the 2016 gold medal-winning coach said the game would benefit from having Caslick try her hands at the 15-person game.

“She’s done everything in the sevens game and wants to have a crack at a World Cup, and she’s got our full blessing,” Walsh said.

“We’re hoping she lights it up and shows her wears.

“She’s the empress of sevens and done it all.

“Even from a sevens point of view, she’s not going to be around forever.

“We look around our team room and all our winning tournaments, and apart from the World Cup in 2009 when Charlotte was 13, she’s on every poster.

“It’s really important that we fill the void that she will leave at some stage.

“We’ve tried it a few times and we’re developing well. Last year we left her out of Singapore and nearly won. It’s a great thing for the program to test ourselves without her around.”

Charlotte Caslick will miss the remainder of the World Series Sevens, while Madi Ashby (R) is still sidelined. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, men’s coach Liam Barry has recalled teenager Hadley Tonga to his 13-man squad with Michael Icely ruled out due to a knee injury.

“Hong Kong is the original and legacy event and in a new stadium under the roof on day one we’re pumped for the occasion,” Barry, the former All Black, said.

“Some of the players were quite crook in Vancouver, we had a few boys get off their beds to play so it was a fair effort and I thought we played better in Vancouver than we did in Perth.

“We want to maintain our position on the standings, move forward and keep improving in areas we have done so throughout the season.”

The Aussie Men have been drawn into Pool B alongside traditional rivals New Zealand and South Africa, as well as Uruguay.

Australia’s Women meet Spain and Canada on the opening day in Pool C before a clash against Japan leading into the quarter-finals.

Australia Women’s Sevens team for HSBC SVNS Hong Kong:

Piper Simons, Amahli Hala*, Faith Nathan, Mackenzie Davis, Teagan Levi, Tia Hinds, Isabella Nasser (c), Maddison Levi, Bridget Clark, Kahli Henwood, Ruby Nicholas, Kiiahla Duff, Sariah Paki,

*denotes debut

Australia Men’s Sevens team for HSBC SVNS Hong Kong:

Henry Hutchison (c), Ben Dowling, Henry Paterson (c),Matt Gonzalez, Ben Dalton, Maurice Longbottom, Jayden Blake, James Turner, Sid Harvey, Aden Ekanayake, Hayden Sargeant, Josh Turner, Hadley Tonga

HSBC SVNS 2024/2025 HONG KONG SCHEDULE

AUSTRALIA WOMEN – POOL C

Friday March 27: Australia v Spain – 1:53pm AEDT

Friday March 27: Australia v Canada – 4:57pm AEDT

Saturday, March 28: Australia v Japan – 12:53pm AEDT

AUSTRALIA MEN – POOL B

Friday, March 27: Australia v New Zealand – 8:30pm AEDT

Friday, March 27: Australia v South Africa – 11:39pm AEDT

Saturday, March 28: Australia v Uruguay – 4:20pm AEDT