A Canberra schoolboy rivalry will be reignited when Tom Cusack and Lewis Holland trade a joint Olympic Games bid for a chance to go head-to-head when Super Rugby resumes in Canberra.
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ACT Brumbies flanker Cusack and Melbourne Rebels recruit Holland have been competing against each other and training together since they were enemies at Marist College and St Edmund's.
Since then they've shared the field plenty of times as Rugby Australia juniors, sevens stars and Rio Olympians four years ago, but the coronavirus shutdown has led to surprise meeting at home.
Holland has signed a deal with the Melbourne Rebels after the Tokyo Olympics were rescheduled for next year and with the world series sevens circuit unable to go ahead.
Cusack has a dual Rugby Australia contract, which was supposed to allow him to play sevens in Tokyo and juggle his Brumbies mission in Super Rugby.
So just a month before they were supposed to walk into the opening ceremony in Tokyo, a crowd of 1500 could watch them go head to head for the first time in almost a decade.
"He's moved the Rebels squad to Canberra, so he must be trying to pull rank down there like he did with the sevens and when he was in Canberra," Cusack grinned after the Rebels relocated to the capital on Friday.
"We did the national gold squad all through juniors and he was snapped up in the sevens program. We've played that much footy together, it's ridiculous.
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"He's got the skill, he's got the kicking game and the passing game. Going through school and watching through sevens, his attack is second to none. It will be exciting to see what he can do."
Holland was in the junior Brumbies program with Cusack before both went down the sevens path before turning to Super Rugby.
The Braidwood junior could make his debut back in the capital if he's picked for the round-one showdown at Canberra Stadium.
Sevens players have arguably been the most affected players in Australian rugby given the international travel required to compete at world series events.
The Olympics have been rescheduled to start in July next year, and Cusack is still keen to explore his chances of becoming a two-time Olympian.
"It's bittersweet in a way, I can solely focus on XVs now," he said.
"There was a time there where I would have had to, coming at the back end of the XVs season, I would've had to change my focus to Sevens and try and integrate back in because I was only supposed to be back there for a month or two leading into the Olympics.
"I would've had to have been a quick turnaround but to solely have to focus on the XVs is a nice little way forward but hopefully Olympics will take off next year and hopefully I can be a part of it.
"I've still got my hat in the ring and still looking forward to working with the team."
The Rebels have moved their base to Canberra as a coronavirus precautions following a spike in positive cases in Melbourne last week. They will train at Duntroon and spend the week plotting revenge after the Brumbies won the Super Rugby match between the teams earlier this year. The Brumbies snapped a four-game losing streak against the Rebels when they held on for a 39-26 win in Canberra.
The Brumbies will host the Rebels in the their first match, while the Queensland Reds host the NSW Waratahs in the Super Rugby AU launch on Friday.
SUPER RUGBY AU ROUND ONE
Saturday: ACT Brumbies v Melbourne Rebels at Canberra Stadium, 7.15pm