Injury has cruelly curtailed Pat McCabe and Brian Sefanaia's bid to help Australia win its first Commonwealth Games rugby sevens gold medal in New Delhi.

Both were ruled out of coach Michael O'Connor's 12-man team on Tuesday.

Super 14 Rookie of the Year Pat McCabe has succumbed to a left knee injury, while Sefanaia has sustained a medial ligament tear of his right knee which will keep him sidelined for up to eight weeks.

"I'm extremely disappointed, and more so to be missing out on the rare opportunity to represent Australia at the Games," McCabe said.

"To miss the experience of staying at the athletes' village alongside some of the world's best and potentially missing out on winning a gold medal is extremely disappointing."

Western Force winger Nick Cummins has be passed fit to play after sustaining a shoulder injury in Randwick's semi-final win over Eastwood in the Sydney Shute Shield competition on Saturday.

Cummins's clubmate Shaun Foley is a late withdrawal from this weekend's grand final against Sydney University and has flown to Darwin as a replacement for McCabe, while Ed Jenkins comes into the side for the experienced Sefanaia and joins London Sevens winners Bernard Foley, Nicholas Phipps and James Stannard in the squad.

Foley was a key member of the Australian team during the first two legs of the IRB Sevens world Series last season, while Jenkins featured in the final two events.

Australia recorded their best result in over eight years on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit after finishing third and are expected to turn in an even better performance in Delhi on October 11-12.

The squad has a chance to create history if they can finish with gold or silver as Australia has not medalled at the Commonwealth Games since securing bronze in 1998 when rugby sevens was first granted entry in Kuala Lumpur.

Australia have been drawn alongside arch-rivals England in the pools and will take plenty of confidence from their performance at Twickenham where they defeated the hosts en route to the title, our first since 2002.

Australia will also take on Uganda and Sri Lanka in Pool D.

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