Sevens captain Lewis Holland thought James Stannard was dead, then chased coward puncher

SEVENS captain Lewis Holland has described the horror of watching James Stannard suffer what he believed was a lethal coward’s punch, and his decision to chase down the alleged assailant over.

Lewis Holland has spoken out on the James Stannard ’lethal’ coward punch

AUSTRALIAN sevens captain Lewis Holland has described the horror of watching teammate James Stannard suffer what he believed was a lethal coward’s punch, and his decision to chase down the alleged assailant over several hundred metres.

“I thought ‘f*** he is dead’, basically, Holland said.

“It just all went in slow motion.

“I remember watching him hit the deck, he was knocked out before he hit the deck. And then the way he hit the concrete, it was one of those ones you watch on the news. A shiver runs down your back. I thought the worst.

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Lewis Holland has spoken out on the James Stannard ’lethal’ coward punch.

“My first instinct was: ‘This bloke can’t get away’.”

“Because I thought he’d killed one of my best mates.”

Stannard suffered a fractured skull when he was allegedly struck by a 22-year-old English man in an early morning incident last week at a Coogee kebab shop.

The 35-year-old was ruled out of the Commonwealth Games, where he was due to captain the Aussie men’s team due to Holland having also been withdrawn a week earlier due to a hamstring injury.

Holland believed Stannard was dead after being attacked. Picture: Toby Zerna

Holland was among a small group who witnessed the distressing incident, which came after members of the Australian team and their families had held a farewell party for outgoing coach Andy Friend.

“It was so out of the blue. The night was so positive,” Holland told your masthead.

“There wasn’t a hint of an argument or a disagreement with anyone, from start to finish. I was only a few metres behind “Chucky” (Stannard) when he got punched and I didn’t hear an argument or anything.

“I just heard someone get hit, I wasn’t facing him but then I saw Chucky fall and then hit the concrete.

“My next thought was just to turn and run, and chase the bloke.”

The alleged assailant sprinted away but he picked the wrong guys to try to outrun, given sevens players are arguably Australia’s fittest footballers.

Holland chased after the attacker for several hundred metres.

With Holland carrying an injury, Aussie player Ben O’Donnell caught the alleged culprit first at the southern end of the Coogee Beach foreshore. Friend also helped detain the Briton before police arrived.

“I was blowing. It is the longest I have run in a while. Benny was running a lot faster than me,” Holland said.

“Once we’d caught him, my next instinct was OK, I have to get back to Chucky. I spoke to him and he started communicating, and he knew it was me speaking to him. It was a bit more of a relief then. The ambulance turned up just as we got back there.”

Holland said the fact Stannard could have suffered a far more tragic outcome has stuck with him.

“At that point you’ve been hit like that, it can really just come down to how you fall,” Holland said.

“I don’t know if someone was looking after him or what, but I am just glad he’s okay.”

Just hours before he was attacked last week, Stannard told the Daily Telegraph he was “gutted” for his friend Holland to be missing the Commonwealth Games with injury.

Holland feels the same way for his friend, who is due to retire in a few months.

“I never thought I would pull on the boots with a guy of his stature, let alone call him one of my best mates,” Holland said.

Stannard fractured his skull in the attack.

“It’s devastating for Chucky. Last year he was the Australian player of the year and he gives so much to the team. To miss out on playing at the Commonwealth Games due to an injury that wasn’t rugby-related is so disappointing for him.”

There remains a chance Holland and Stannard could play together again for Australia in the Sevens World Cup in July.

“That’s in the back of Chuck’s mind but first and foremost he just has to rest up and get well,” Holland said.

“It’d be great if we could get out there once more but if we can’t, that’s cool. We’ll just have to play subbies together somewhere down the track.”

Friend and the Australian sevens team begin their Commonwealth Games campaign on Friday.

Originally published as Sevens captain Lewis Holland thought James Stannard was dead, then chased coward puncher