Aussie Sevens confident in Rio facilities

Tue, Jul 26, 2016, 4:31 AM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
The sevens sides are off to Rio. Photo: Getty images"
The sevens sides are off to Rio. Photo: Getty images"

The Aussie Sevens are confident that the Rio village will be up to scratch when they arrive at the Olympics.

With 10 days left until the Opening ceremony, athletes have been unable to move into the villages due to a myriad safety issues.

The women's Sevens team have shifted their schedule with the raised concerns, with the team heading straight to a Portobello training camp, rather than the village first.

Coach Tim Walsh said while it wasn’t ideal, the side was used to unpredictable turns of events, after seasons of playing in the World Series.

“In Sevens, you travel around the world all the time and they’re things that you need to get used to,” he said.

“We didn’t foresee this but we expected so many little things that will be barriers to us and really it’s not a problem.

“We’ll roll with it and adjust plans accordingly.”

Co-captain Shannon Parry echoed her coach’s thoughts, confident that the schedule change won’t change much at all.

“It obviously changed our plans but didn't really change anything,” he said.

“We’re still going to Rio at the same time, going to the village later rather than staying there and going to Portobello.

“You just adjust and that’s the part of travelling that is a bit annoying but bags don’t turn up, you miss flights, we’re just used to it.”

The players were in their official Olympic kit for the first time and Parry said there was a different sense of anticipation heading to Sydney Olympics.

“It’s something special,” Parry said.

“It’s got a glossy feel to it, very different to the ARU uniform but you put it on and there’s that sense of excitement and we just want to put it on and want to make Australia proud.”

Men’s captain Ed Jenkins, Australia’s most-capped Sevens player, said pulling on the kit started to make Rio seem that little bit closer. 

“We’re out at this airport a lot but to come out here with a different uniform on it’s very special and the boys can’t wait to get over there,” he said.

The Olympic Sevens competitions kick off on August 6 with the women’s tournament, before the men’s starts on August 10 (AEST).

Women's tournament

Sunday August 7 

2.30am - Australia vs Colombia 

7.30am  - Australia vs Fiji

Monday  August 8 

2.30am - Australia vs USA

From 6am - Quarter-finals

Tuesday August 9

7:30am - Bronze Medal match

8:00am - Gold Medal match 

Men's tournament

Wednesday August 10

12am - Australia vs France

5am - Australia vs Spain 

Thursday August 11

12.30am - Australia vs South Africa

From 6am - Quarter-finals

Friday August 12

7:30am - Bronze Medal match

8:00am - Gold Medal match

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