Liam McNamara will make his Aussie Sevens return in Paris, and few people rate the youngster higher than coach Tim Walsh.
McNamara has missed the last nine months with an ACL injury, but Walsh believes the form he was in before injury was a sign of positive things to come.
“It's pretty awesome (to have him back) and in the short relationship I've built up with him to have his knowledge and his composure is really exciting and you look at his form he was in before it happened, he was certainly on a trajectory to being one of the great sevens players,” he said.
“Very excited for him and he's going to be rusty, we've got to make sure he's managed and getting back into the game and game composure and game speed.
“Full credit to Liam and to everyone that gets injured and comes back and again it's the nature of contact sport and the nature of sevens particularly, so very excited to see him out there.”
McNamara has had a long rehab stint, but the 20-year-old had some pretty strong influences during his time out of the team, with veteran James Stannard and skipper Lewis Holland also coming back from injuries.
“I've used it as a big learning curve. Fortunately Lewi and Chucky were also in rehab same imte as me so I learned a lot off those guys off the field just learning so hopefully I can apply that when I get back out on the weekend,” he said.
“You get a different perspective when you're watching from the sidelines, so watching over the last nine months I think I understand the game more and I think I can improve my game when I get back on the weekend.”
The Aussie men are going into Paris off a disappointing London tournament and Walsh said they simply had to improve.
“They know, it's the consistency this game requires from tournament to tournament, game to game, day to day, is required to be on the podium consistently,” he said.
“We've got day one to get through and most importantly generally is that day two quarter-final, to perform there and making sure you're going on to give yourself a shot at it.
“There's no delusions, it's just be better at it.”
The Aussie men kick off their Paris campaign against Wales at 5pm AEST, LIVE on FOX SPORTS.
FIXTURES
Aussie Men's Paris Sevens pool matches
All times AEST.
Saturday June 9
Australia vs Wales, 5pm
Australia vs Spain, 7:56pm
Sunday June 10
Australia vs Ireland, 1:48am
