London Sevens: O'Donnell headlines four changes for Aussie men

Fri, May 17, 2019, 3:02 AM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
Ben O'Donnell is back in the Aussie Sevens squad for London. Photo: Getty images
Ben O'Donnell is back in the Aussie Sevens squad for London. Photo: Getty images

Ben O'Donnell is set to return to the Aussie men's Sevens squad for the London Sevens next weekend.

O'Donnell missed the last World Series leg in Singapore, rotated out of the side after a heavy early season load, but he will be a handy addition for the penultimate tournament in England.

He is one of four changes to the 12 that went to Singapore last month with Lachlan Anderson, Jesse Parahi and Sam Myers also returning to the fray.

Anderson has been out of action since February's Sydney 7s with a back injury but has been given the all-clear to return to the side.

The forward said he was looking forward to getting back on the park and said the side was keen to finish their season on a positive note.

"We'll be the first blokes to put our hand up and admit we've probably underachieved a bit this season but going off that training intensity and the last couple of weeks, we're seeing this as a massive opportunity for us to finish off the season on a strong note," he said.

"Every time you get to pull on that green and gold jersey that's motivation in itself but again we know where we're at this season, we've been disappointed with some of the results so we've identified minor things in our game that have a massive impact.

"If we're able to just tweak those and get those kind of things falling our way then hopefully we can get a few more results and a few more wins."

Parahi and Myers have worked their way back into form, forcing the hand of coach Tim Walsh when it came to selections.

Sam Myers in action for the Aussie Sevens in Paris. Photo: World RugbyThe Aussies sit seventh overall in the World Series standings, with automatic Olympic qualification well out of reach.

They take on Wales, Spain and the series-leading USA in the pool stages and coach Tim Walsh said they were looking forward to the challenge.

"They're number one for a reason," he said.

"We've only played them once this year and they beat us in extra-time. We're really looking forward to playing them, beating number one as well, it's always nice but we've got our tactics, like we do against all of them.

"We're very keen to play USA."

The London Sevens kicks off on Saturday May 25 with Australia taking on Wales at 9:36pm AEST.

SQUAD

Aussie men's Sevens for London Sevens

1. Joe Pincus, Easts (Sydney), 4 caps

2. Jeral Skelton, Brothers, 12 caps

3. Simon Kennewell, Norths (Sydney), 17 caps

4. Lachlan Anderson, Eastwood, 20 caps 

5. Jesse Parahi, Norths (Sydney) 43 caps

6. Sam Myers, Norths (Sydney), 37 caps 

7. Lewis Holland (c), Queanbeyan, 45 caps 

8. Josh Coward, Souths (Melbourne), 3 caps

9. Maurice Longbottom, Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team, 13 caps

10. Ben O’Donnell, Randwick, 16 caps

11. Lachlan Miller, Southern Cross University (Coffs Harbour), 4 caps 

12. Henry Hutchison, Randwick, 24 caps

13th Matt Hood, Sydney University, 4 caps

FIXTURES

Saturday May 25. All times AEST

Australia vs Wales, 6:30pm

Australia vs Spain, 9.36pm

Sunday May 26

Australia vs USA, 1:04am

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