Australian rugby squads for Commonwealth Games revealed
WALLABIES great David Campese believes home ground advantage can be a key factor for the Australian sevens teams at the Commonwealth Games but men’s skipper Lewis Holland could miss the tournament.
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THE AUSTRALIAN men’s and women’s sevens squads will hit the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast with confidence after strong results this year but an injury concern threatens to sideline mens captain Lewis Holland for the tournament.
A hamstring strain for Holland was revealed as Andy Friend and Tim Walsh named their 13-player squads for next month’s Games, and detailed their different preparation plans in the pursuit of a gold medal.
The men’s team - who will tune up with a three-game series against New Zealand on March 29 - will skip the opening ceremony on April 4 and remain in Sydney before flying into Queensland in the second week on a “hit and run” mission.
The women’s team will march but then depart again to a Sunshine Coast camp before their April 14 kick-off.
Holland will be racing the clock in the next four weeks to rehabilitate a strained hamstring picked up against South Africa in the recent Vancouver Sevens.
Friend said the time frame should be enough for a recovery but given Holland’s importance to the side, he would still say a few prayers to be on the safe side.
“He is so instrumental for us as a group, not only his football, his football is fantastic, but just as a leader and as a person, he’s crucial for us,” Friend said.
“So we are ‘fingers crossed’ he’s going to be right. If he’s not, then our other leaders are going to have to step up and will have to fill that void. But we are confident he’s going to be right.”
Holland said he wasn’t concerned and would “rip into the rehab”.
“I will be fine. We have four weeks until we play. It’s just about that recovery phase,” Holland said.
“I have been there and done it before. It’s not ideal but those are the things that bob up in sport.”
Friend named Maurice Longbottom, Boyd Killingworth and Sam Myers - who are also carrying injuries but are also expected to be fit for the Games.
An injury to Holland in Rio hurt Australia’s medal chances and so too did a distracted preparation, Friend said.
That thinking was behind the plan to remain in Sydney until a few days before they begin playing, as they would normally do in the world circuit.
“It’s important to treat it like another rugby tournament,” Friend said.
“We got a lot learns out of Rio, in my view it was built up to something (too big). Yes it was an Olympic Games but for us it is another rugby tournament. If you get too far ahead of yourself and think about the event, and not the performance, you take your eye off the performance.”
Wallabies great David Campese believes home ground advantage can be a key factor for the Australian men’s and women’s sevens teams at the Commonwealth Games next month on the Gold Coast.
And his view was shared by the coaches of the two Aussie teams as Andy Friend and Tim Walsh revealed their 13-player squads for the tournament on Thursday.
Campese was celebrated sevens player as well as XVs star and played in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
“I think it (home crowd factor) is a big advantage,” Campese said.
“The crowds are behind you and at the Sydney Sevens, both the mens and womens teams did a great job.
“When you have family and friends, there is something in you that just makes you play well. Playing here, at home, I hope it is going to help us.”
Friend reiterated Campese’s home ground sentiment, saying both the men’s and women’s teams are hoping it can propel them to victory, as it did in Sydney in January.
“It’s definitely going to be something we can use in our favour if we manage the emotion of it,” Friend said.
Walsh said his team would take strength from having family and friends in the stands but they would also seek to replicate their successful Rio campaign of entering a “performance bubble” and blocking out all else.
“We know if we perform, and that’s our no.1 thing, performance equals winning,” Walsh said.
“We have the team, we have the skills, we have the admin and staff to do it, so if everyone does their piece we will be very confident.”
The Australian women’s squad said they were chasing a second piece of history by winning the first Commonwealth Games gold medal for womens sevens, just as they did in Rio.
“Absolutely winning is the goal,” Walsh said.
*Commonwealth Games debut
*Commonwealth Games debut
Originally published as Australian rugby squads for Commonwealth Games revealed
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