Australia Men's Sevens coach John Manenti is eager to test themselves against the best as they start the build towards the Paris Olympics.
Manenti's side will face ladder leaders Argentina first up in Singapore on May 3 for the first time since the Perth Final.
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On that day, 'Los Pumas' blew out Australia on home soil 31-5 thanks to a second-half surge.
“I was actually quite excited when we got them in the draw,” Manenti told Rugby.com.au
“I know that sounds strange but they beat us in Perth and it was 7-0 at half-time before we made a few mistakes and they ran away with it. We haven’t seen them since, we’ve played New Zealand, Fiji, South Africa numerous times but we haven’t seen them again.
Argentina will be without superstar Marcos Moneta, whose injury in the group stages derailed their campaign and saw them eliminated in the group stages.
“It’s really important to play the best teams in the lead up in Paris and the World Series Final so we can work out how they play them. They’re quite a different side than a lot of others on the circuit so you do to challenge them in a different way," he said.
“It gives us a really good chance to see where we’re at against the top of the ladder.”
Manenti also backed recent debutant Michael Hooper to continue to get better as he hunts for an Olympic berth.
Hooper will have Singapore, the Madrid Final and some practice games in Fiji to press his claims before the team is announced.
“I was pretty upfront with him, I expected him to make mistakes and learn from that tournament. He’s going to be much better in this tournament on the back of it," Manenti said.
“There were a lot of lessons for him around the game and probably an understanding of what he thought might have gone on at the world series.
“It’s just like a 20-year-old coming into the team, all his history and experience is invaluable but ultimately you’re going through the same teething problems that anyone is going to have.
“I expect him to improve quite a bit even though there’s not a lot of time. He’s a good, smart footy player that understands where we’re going so he’ll have more involvement this tournament.”
