Australia will be eager to hit the ground running in Sydney, and pick up where they left off after winning Dubai, the season’s opening tournament. 

They find themselves in Pool A, alongside France, Spain and Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea only features for the Sydney event, as the local addition.

In 2017 they were a charming side – losing all their matches but scoring some fantastic tries throughout the two days.

They’ll look to use Joanne Lagona’s pace again to repeat that performance, and likely make the crowd rue their absence on the Gold Coast later this year.

France will be looking to build on their improved performance in Dubai, which included an upset win over the United States in pool play, and one over England in the place playoffs.

They were one of the more popular international sides last year in Sydney, with a significant and vocal expat turnout.

Spain are a team yet to make their mark in the Sevens World Series but after scoring a playoff win over England in Dubai they’ll look to building on that with confidence.

Patricia Garcia will always be one to watch, as a prolific scorer for them.

Australia is likely to field a tweaked side following Dubai, with Alicia Quirk and Ellia Green touted to make returns. 

One hopes they’re both ready for comebacks, as the side managed ably in Dubai, and have a busy calendar in 2018.

April sees the side host nation in the Commonwealth Games, and in July the World Cup in San Francisco beckons.

This will be the side's last World Series tournament with Tim Walsh as coach, so there's countless angles from which the side can draw their inspiration for a win.

They’ll need to produce two wins, hope to end day one with three – and adjust to the tournament schedule that has the usual second day split across the weekend.