Fiji will again kick off the HSBC Sevens World Series as firm favourites to take out the World Series title after an historic 2016 which saw the small island nation win its first ever Olympic gold medal.
Fiji dominated the 2015/16 series reaching five Cup playoff matches and winning three of the 10 World Series stops and only months later secured the first ever Rugby Sevens Olympic gold.
Fiji's meteoric rise from small island nation to World Champions has also become the subject of a new documentary 'Sevens From Heaven', which focuses on how the Fiji side became the top ranked nation in the world despite a population of only 800,000.
Dubai Sevens is again the first stop on the World Series trail with both men's and women's sides taking part in the event, and Fiji will be aiming to make it consecutive wins at the venue, while Australia's women's side will be hoping to start their back-to-back series campaign with a bang.
Both Olympic gold medal sides will face their own issues with Fiji heading into the tournament with new interim coach Naca Cawanibuka. While Australia's gold medal winning side will have a few new faces.