Aussies chasing Sevens Grand Slam in London

Fri, Jun 1, 2018, 11:50 PM
Sam Phillips
by Sam Phillips
A win against Ireland first thing tomorrow at Twickenham will deliver the Aussies a mini Grand Slam after they knocked off Wales, Scotland and England at their last tournament in Singapore. The side finalising their preparations for the tournament.

The Australian Men's Sevens side are chasing their very own Grand Slam on the opening day of the London 7s.

Having beaten Wales, England and Scotland in Singapore, the Australians will face Ireland in their tournament opener on Saturday night (AEST).

Chasing a "Sevens Grand Slam" would add extra incentive to start the tournament in style, according to coach Tim Walsh.

"It's an extra incentive to do the Sevens Grand Slam," Walsh said.

"We beat Wales, England and Scotland in Singapore and the Irish will make it a Grand Slam."

After chasing the Grand Slam attention will turn to pool matches against Wales and Spain, the latter causing serious headaches for the Australians when they met in Singapore.

"We played (Spain) in Singapore and didn't play well at all," Walsh said.

"We want to make sure we finish the day well and finish the pool well by finishing off well against Spain."

Walsh has recalled some experienced heads for the London campaign but there are some new faces about, too, in the form of Triston Reilly and Joe Pincus.

Reilly already has one World Series cap to his name but it will be a debut for Pincus, a player Walsh is particularly excited to see in full flight at Twickenham.

"Watching Triston in Hong Kong and the way he has been training, he has tremendous athletic ability and some good vision," Walsh said.

"We're really excited to see him out on the field and Joey - he's really a player that has it all.

"He's versatile, he's athletic and young - I can't wait to see him get out there and play.

"To give these guys a crack - particularly Joey - out here at Twickenham, it's a pretty special moment for him and for the whole team."


Reilly and Pincus are just two of the five changes to the side that fell after the final siren in a heartbreaking Cup final in Singapore.

With captain Lewis Holland, playmaker Tom Lucas and breakdown master Boyd Killingworth all returning, Walsh expects his side to win those big moments this time around.

"It's just holding composure, doing all those little things well, those little one percenters," he said.

"Ideally you don't want to be in that position where you're there but when you are it's about thriving on it and wanting the ball, wanting to make the tackle, wanting to be involved.

"That's why we love the game - out of those six games (in Singapore), five were (decided) in the last play and we won four of them.

"That's going to be the difference between us being on the podium and not.

"It's great experience and we're looking forward to the next one and those tight ones, we have to win."

FIXTURES

Saturday June 2

7:36pm AEST - Australia vs Ireland

10:42pm AEST - Australia vs Wales

Sunday June 3

1:48am AEST - Australia vs Spain

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