Olympic Games hopeful Lewis Holland says any Wallabies hoping join the Australian sevens campaign in Rio need to invest a significant chunk of time in the game to get a grasp of the style needed to be medal contenders.
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The sevens team booked its Olympic ticket at the weekend and arrived in Sydney on Monday to news that former Wallaby Scott Bowen will take over the interim coaching job while Tim Walsh returns to the women's team.
The ARU will conduct interviews as they continue their search for a permanent head coach with the team ramping up its preparation to go for Olympic gold.
The hot topic will be whether the new coach selects Super Rugby and Wallabies players ahead of sevens specialists, with Quade Cooper, Bernard Foley and Israel Folau likely to join Henry Speight in contention for spots.
Holland made the switch to sevens when he was plucked out of St Edmund's College schoolboy rugby in Canberra and has been a permanent fixture of the team since 2011.
"You get to read the game a lot differently than a 15-a-side player, that's what they need to understand – it's not just a shortened version of the 15s game," Holland said.
"The structures we put in place ... if you're one step off then it could result in a try. Sevens is a game of chances and if you're not there, you can get the wrong end of the stick."
Australia parachuted in big-name Wallabies stars Lote Tuqiri, Matt Giteau, Scott Fava and Chris Latham for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, but the team failed to win a medal.
Brumbies speedster Speight will spend most of the next 10 months learning the sevens craft while also juggling Super Rugby duties.
But Cooper is based in France with powerhouse Toulon and it is not known how much he will be able to commit to the sevens program.
Bowen will lead the Australian side into tournaments in Dubai and Cape Town in the coming months before the ARU appoints a new full-time man in charge.
Nine-cap Wallaby Bowen is the performance manager of the sevens program who has roles with the national men's and women's teams.
"This is purely a transition role to have someone in the program and to allow Tim to focus on the women's so they can get their preparation under way," Bowen said.
"There are still 10 tournaments to go [before the Olympics]. The management of the players is going to be crucial because you want a healthy and fit squad come August next year.
"That's going to be a challenge for the new head coach: giving people ample time to prove and strive for selection but to also be conscious of the workload. The men's and women's are genuine medal contenders – it's an exciting time."
