Australian Women's Sevens coach Tim Walsh is confident they will grow from the disappointments of Sydney as they prepare for this week's inaugural Hong Kong leg of the HSBC World Series.
The side sits in second behind New Zealand and with the title out of reach barring a major Black Ferns collapse, turn their focus towards Olympic qualification.
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It comes after an uncharacteristic start to the season, finishing third in Hamilton before missing the semi-finals altogether at their home event in Sydney.
“The review from Sydney and Hamilton, we got the preparation wrong in the lead-up from that,” Walsh admits.
“…Post-Cape Town, we went straight on break and came back early. We thought we were being smart (on the) 29th of December and then leading into Hamilton and Sydney but in actual fact, when we look at the numbers, we had a taper week into Dubai which ends up being nowhere as heavy as a training week and then into Cape Town and break, we had a 5-6 week period of not heavy training.
“We came back and had two weeks to Hamilton and that wasn’t enough for us to be at our best. There were other factors as well close to home whether it was nerves or other stuff…going through the Sydney event where a lot of girls haven’t done that before, especially of a really successful season.
“It was a massive learning that we couldn’t prepare for, you have to go through…we maybe should’ve try to protect them more in Sydney, maybe kept a tighter bubble and some rules, which I’m not big on but for keeping them tight and not being distracted, it might have been appropriate.
“To go through that, it’s really positive and if you go through that historically post-Rio, when we won the gold medal we came back to Sydney and played terribly, we learnt how to handle and play in that environment.
“I’m pleased with how they bounced back in Vancouver which wasn’t a surprise but we’re still not winning so we have the drive in us to keep going and when we are winning, to not be complacent and keep driving to win every tournament.”
The allure of the maiden Women's event in Hong Kong is enough motivation to get any side up for this week's event regardless of title and Olympic aspirations.
It will be the first time the historic venue will be included on the World Series for both men and women.
Australia enter as the defending Men's champions and Walsh would like nothing more than to join his counterparts on the podium.
“Hong Kong is the beating heart of Sevens. I think Laukota, Fiji is the spiritual home and Hong Kong is one of the premier Sevens events
“I’ve been there as a coach, spectator and a player and I think some of my fondest is as a spectator (laughs). It’s a great place.
“Hong Kong started the Sevens revolution to an extent but there all like that now. Hong Kong set the marketing campaign for Sevens.
“Historically and nostalgically, it’s the one to win. It’s a tough tournament because it’s in a valley, often rains and wet underfoot. You compare to the fields now which have elite drainage and world-class, this one is a little spongy and heavier.”
