Isabella Nasser eyes sibling milestone as Australian Sevens captain re-signs through LA28

Isabella Nasser is set for one of the more personally charged weekends of her career when she leads the Australian Women’s Sevens at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Saturday, having recently re-signed with the programme through to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Nasser will first appear at the Kick On 7s event on Friday against New Zealand before returning for the Sydney Quadruple Header on Saturday, a card that also features the Wallaroos against Scotland, the Australian Men’s Sevens against Fiji, and the Wallabies hosting New Zealand in the second Bledisloe Cup clash.

The day carries an extra layer of significance for Nasser because her brother, Wallaby Josh Nasser, is in line to feature in the Bledisloe fixture. Josh came off the bench to score the Wallabies’ only second-half try against New Zealand last week, and the prospect of both siblings performing on the same day at the same venue is something Isabella described as genuinely new territory.

“I don’t think we’ve ever played on the same day in the same area,” she said. “So that would be pretty surreal. The family are very proud of Josh and his development in the Wallabies. I think that would be pretty special if we were able to play on the same day.”

Sydney also holds practical significance for the squad. “We very rarely, if ever, play in Sydney, which is where we’re based, and very accessible for our family and friends,” Nasser added. “To be able to play in front of a home crowd, and then show them what we’ve been working on, have their support, and then particularly against New Zealand, it’ll be awesome.”

Saturday also marks the first match in charge for Reg Tayler, who steps up after serving as assistant to Tim Walsh. Walsh moved into the newly created role of Director of Women’s High Performance in July and has since reshaped the programme’s leadership structure, appointing Tayler to lead the sevens side and naming Sione Fukofuka as the new Wallaroos head coach ahead of the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup.

With Fukofuka not beginning until next year, Walsh has overseen an interim Wallaroos coaching team for the remainder of the 2026 season. The side showed encouraging signs on a recent European tour, improving across matches against England and France before beating Scotland 30-10.

A broader expansion of the high-performance programme is also under way, including a push to bring the Wallaroos into full professional alignment with the women’s sevens setup. An Australian U21 side is also scheduled to play its inaugural fixture against New Zealand U21s at the end of October.

For Nasser, Saturday is a chance to put the progress of the entire Australian women’s rugby programme on public display — with her family watching from the stands.