Gold jersey or gold medal? Waratahs try machine among Super star targets for Olympics

In-form Waratahs wing Dylan Pietsch says he’d be open to a second shot at winning Olympic gold in Paris this year, but he’s set his sights on making the Wallabies squad first.

Pietsch is one of several Super Rugby stars with a background in sevens who have been approached by the Australian men’s sevens program about a potential return for the 2024 Olympics in July.

In the same way Samu Kerevi was injected for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and Mark Nawaqanitawase for the 2022 Commonwealth Games as well, officials have spoken with Pietsch, Brumbies winger Corey Toole and Wallabies and Reds halfback Tate McDermott – and their clubs – about rejoining the Aussie squad for Paris.

Having all played in the Australian sevens team before, the trio wouldn’t need a full season of preparation like rookie Michael Hooper, who was set to play in Los Angeles this weekend but is now slated for a debut in Hong Kong next month after a cautious return from an Achilles injury.

But with some preparation time away from Super Rugby still needed, all three have made it known their priority is making the first Wallabies squad under Joe Schmidt, for the July Tests against Wales and Georgia.

McDermott will likely be one of the first picked, and if the try-scoring form showed in round one continues for the rest of the Super Rugby season, Pietsch and Toole will be strong chances, too.

Dylan Pietsch scoring against South Korea at the Olympics in 2021.Credit: AP

Asked about the Olympics, Pietsch said he was interested but “I’m just taking it as it is, to be fair”.

“Last year I focused a lot on goals and reaching certain things, whereas this year I’m kind of taking it day by day. My goal is to be in the Wallabies and if I’m not, then Olympics is there and it’d be pretty cool to be able to do that again,” he said.

“But yes, at the moment, I am trying to make the Wallabies, and if it pans out, it pans out; if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Either way, I’d be very happy.”

Leeton-born Pietsch played for the Australian sevens team for five years, after debuting as a youngster from Randwick in 2017. Playing as a forward in sevens, Pietsch became an Olympian in Tokyo before he switched to Super Rugby with the Waratahs in 2022.

Dylan Pietsch in action for the Waratahs in 2023.Credit: Getty

Thrown on the wing for the first time, Pietsch did a superb job of masking the fact he felt very lost; making consistent impact with the ball, starting all but two games and scoring six tries. He won selection in the Australia A team in 2022 and, in 2023, Pietsch’s form continued to improve. He was selected in Eddie Jones’ 34-man Wallabies squad for the Rugby Championship, and then played for Australia A against Portugal.

While on tour with the Aussie-laden Barbarians, he was agonisingly close to joining the Wallabies’ World Cup squad as injury cover.

In the opening round loss to Queensland last weekend, Pietsch was among NSW’s best and scored two tries; the second with a freaky own-try-assist from Hunter Paisami.

“I’ve just got a bit more comfortable in my own skin now. Like I’m not as nervous when I’m running out there,” Pietsch said.

“I just back in what I’m good at and that’s being very powerful, but also having a little bit of skill as well.

“My first games for the Tahs were my first games [on the] wing, so just with my knowledge [now] and what I’m doing and who I am, going on that Baa-Baas tour, eight weeks being overseas, really helped me a lot.

“Being under boys like Tom Wright, Filipo [Daugunu], being with Hunter, Len [Ikitau], all those boys really helped me find who I was as a winger. I’m definitely more of a ball-carrying winger, in that sense, and I am just sticking to who I am. Eddie was actually really good with that, too, trying to like, simplify my game so I can just focus on certain things. So now I’ve got a clear idea of what I’m good at.”

The Waratahs meet the Crusaders in Melbourne on Saturday, and with Nawaqanitawase out with a hamstring injury, Pietsch’s importance as a ball-carrier will be even more vital. He was man of the match when NSW shocked the Crusaders at Leichhardt Oval in 2022, and said the memory of that win is valuable to the team in terms of the required tactics and belief.

But with his eyes on a Wallabies call-up, the mechanics of a potential return cameo to sevens for Paris is not front of mind for Pietsch. He is almost 10 kilograms heavier than when he last played sevens, and is quicker off the mark, but for shorter distances.

“When I was last playing in 2020 and 2021, I was a 14-minute player. I definitely wouldn’t be a 14-minute player any more,” he said.

A big part of the appeal for a second shot at Olympics selection would be the chance to get the full Games experience, given Tokyo was during the COVID pandemic.

“It was an amazing experience. It was so cool,” Pietsch said. “But it just doesn’t have that same sting as when you’re running out into a sold-out 80,000 crowd, instead of just a couple of trainers out there, and on virtual crowd noise.

“So yeah, it would be nice just to have that crowd there, have the family and the crowds and really get that Olympic experience, which would be nice. We’ll see how it all goes.”

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