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Sydney Sevens: Andy Friend says quarter-final a pass for Australia

Tom Decent

Australian sevens coach Andy Friend says he will be satisfied with a quarter-final showing at the Sydney Sevens this weekend despite finishing second at last year's tournament. 

Such is the injury toll of the Australian team, Friend would rather aim low than run the risk of making any bold predictions ahead of the opening round of men's games on Saturday. 

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It comes as Olympic captain Ed Jenkins was officially ruled out through injury despite stating his desire to push through the pain barrier to make himself available. He could be joined on the sidelines by captain Sam Myers, Boyd Killingworth, and Alex Gibbon who are yet to get the green light after hurting themselves in the Wellington Sevens event over the weekend. 

Of the 12 players who were picked for the Rio Olympics in August, Henry Hutchison and James Stannard are the only certainties to feature this weekend in what has been a complete makeover since the highly successful inaugural event in Sydney this time last year. 

Countless injuries have curtailed the proper rebuilding phase Friend was hoping for meaning he has well and truly put a lid on expectations. 

"If we make quarter-finals, I'll be really happy, so we need to win two of our pool games," Friend said. "From there, once you're in the quarter-finals, one more win and you're into a semi. Who knows what could happen from there?" 

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Before the Sydney Sevens 12 months ago, Australia sat eighth on the World Series rankings and were yet to win a quarter-final. 

In his first tournament as head coach, Friend said he would like to: "Win our first two qualifiers and get through to the quarter-finals" but that was at a time when the team had few runs on the board. 

In front of a blockbuster crowd at Allianz Stadium, the Thunderbolts were pipped in the dying moments by a fast finishing New Zealand 27-24. 

From there the team backed it up with a narrow 21-15 loss to Fiji in the USA Sevens final before third and fourth placings in the following tournaments helped heighten expectations before the Olympics. 

While Australia has failed to make the quarter-finals in its last two tournaments in Cape Town and Wellington, Friend hopes the familiarity of Sydney will work in their favour. 

"Playing in front of your family and friends, you won't get a bigger buzz than that. For all these boys … it's a massive opportunity for them," Friend said. "You don't want to be finishing where we're finishing and we all understand where we're at as a squad. 

"It's a lot of new faces, a lot of newness in the squad and sevens takes time to get combinations. In saying that, it's not an excuse. We want to make sure we make a good account of ourselves on the weekend. If you take any team lightly, you're going to be in strife.

"(Injuries) are not the ideal but it's what we've got. We're going to cop some lessons like we did (in Wellington)." 

Friend said his men would be working particularly hard on their defensive structures in the coming days after leaking 87 points on day one in Wellington before going down to Kenya 19-17 on Sunday. 

"They understand the systems but the thing with sevens is when your heart rate is doing 220 (beats per minute) and when your body is full of lactate it does make it hard. They're going to be exposed to some things on the weekend they won't have felt before. It's just how well they come out with that."

Australia are expected to field three debutants in Sydney, with Brandon Quinn, Liam McNamara and Lachlan Anderson in line for a start in Australian colours on home soil. 

"It's a good opportunity for them as we saw over in Wellington," Friend said. "The young guys when they're coming in they're giving us their best." 

Friend also expressed his disappointment at the lack of fans present in Wellington, something that will not be an issue this weekend with Saturday and Sunday both sold out.  

"I don't know what the crowd figures were but there wasn't a lot of people there, which is such a shame because Wellington used to be such a good tournament," Friend said. "I'm sure World Rugby will sort something out there." 

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