Even new Australia Sevens debutant Mackenzie Davis can’t believe her rise as she prepares to play at Cape Town.
Davis will become the fourth player to debut for Australia this season as Tim Walsh’s side looks to go back-to-back in Cape Town.
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The 19-year-old was a touch football star, representing Australia at the Mixed Open World Cup.
Touch football is where Davis was spotted by National Talent Pathway Manager Lachlan Parkinson, joining the program in the middle of 2023 and falling in love with the game.
Davis then played her first official game of Rugby at the Youth Commonwealth Games trials last August, eventually helping Australia to gold.
“I had never made a tackle, never gone to a rugby game or been around Rugby Sevens,” she told Rugby.com.au.
"It was after a touch tournament ‘Parko’ reached out and asked if I wanted to give it a go and at first I actually said no because I was doing my HSC. A couple of months later, he came back to me and I thought ‘Yeah, I'll give it a go.’
“Some girls who I played touch with growing up like Piper Simons and Kiiahla Duff, who debuted in Dubai last week, had gone over so I went to a national girls' session to see what it was like. At first, I was unsure, but I slowly fell in love with it and I knew it was the game for me.
“I had no idea what was doing but it was crazy.”
Davis was thrown straight into the deep end, crediting the likes of Simons, Duff and her current teammates for helping explain the rules as she got used to the contact.
“I was just watching heaps of rugby and asking so many questions because there are so many rules in rugby that are so different to any other sport,” she notes.
“I was just asking heaps of questions and I think girls knew what I didn't know what I was doing and they would help out.
“The national team and the Australia A program foster such a supportive and encouraging environment. I think they're so proud of their team culture that any girls that come into the programme, they're so willing to include and make them a part of the culture.”
From here, Davis experienced a crash course in what to expect from the sport and its benefits.
She went to Fiji with the national squad before turning out for Australia A in Dubai and Australia at the Global Youth Sevens.
Davis has gotten used to the contact around the sport and harnessing the confidence shown by her coaches and teammates
“In terms of contact, I feel like there was no other choice, you have to just go for it," she remarked.
“My first coach Shannon Parry and ‘Parko’ were amazing and had so much confidence in me. I think a lot of my confidence came through them and the girls I was with on tour.
“They gave me so much confidence that I had the ability to take the game on and I would have nowhere near the amount of confidence that I did in those tournaments if it wasn't for them.”
Success for NSW in the Next Gen Sevens competition had Davis firmly on the radar of Australian selectors, who handed the 19-year-old her debut for this week’s event in South Africa.
“It was a crazy day. We had finished training and we were just in a team meeting and the team list had just got popped up on the board and honestly, I think I went into a bit of shock,” she said on the moment.
“I didn't think that this moment would have come as quickly as it did… I still look at it as probably one of the best days ever looking back at it, just finding out that I would be debuting.”
Davis was still registering what it meant to pull on the gold jersey, with Australia set to open their campaign against Brazil on Saturday.
A call back to the family to tell them she was debuting helped sum up the emotions after a meteoric rise to the top.
“My mum was in tears. I think telling her put the opportunity into perspective,” Davis added.
“I think my family are just such an important part of my life so telling them they were just over the moon and I kind of realised ‘Oh my gosh, I'm actually going to be a part of it’
“Lucky enough, I got to watch the girls in Dubai last week when I was in Oz A and being able to watch them was just amazing.
“I think that really put it into perspective that I would be there the following week.”
