|
CANBERRA, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Australian men's and women's Rugby Sevens teams have their eyes set on Olympic gold following the announcement of the 12-person squads for Rio on Thursday.
Fresh off their Rugby Sevens World Series win in May earlier this year, the female team will look to back up their strong tournament performance with a podium performance at the Olympics which begins next month.
At the announcement held on Thursday, women's team co-captain Sharni Williams said a good mix of youth, skill, pace and strength highlights the 12-woman squad, and although the thrill of being an Olympian was the overriding feeling within the group, the focus was truly to win the gold medal.
"It's so surreal for all of us and I don't think it will really sink in that we're going to be Olympians," Williams said.
"Our goal is to go to Rio and win gold and it is something we speak about every day. The World Series win has certainly given us the confidence to achieve that goal."
Fellow co-captain Shannon Perry said although her team was the favorite heading into the Olympics, rankings mean nothing once the tournament starts.
"The tournament in Rio is about who is the best on the day and not who has gone the best all season," Parry said.
"It's a whole different ball game in Rio with the competition being across three days instead of two which should ensure a more exciting style of rugby as we have a little bit more time to recover.
"It will be a massive challenge and a lot will depend on the rub of the green in Rio."
Meanwhile the men's team, led by Australia's most capped player Ed Jenkins, will be keen to perform better than it did at this year's World Series - in which the Aussies finished fourth.
Jenkins said a gold medal was still the ultimate goal for his young side which boasts an average player age of just 23.8 years.
"A gold medal has been our ambition for a while now and that was reinforced at the start of the year when (coach Andy Friend) came in to take over the side," Jenkins said.
"Looking at the team we have for Rio it will definitely be the strongest we have fielded all year."
Jenkins said he expects his side to compete strongly with other tournament hopefuls New Zealand, Fiji and fellow tournament heavyweights South Africa.
"The team went really well this year and it gave a few guys a chance on the circuit which was great for the side's development," Jenkins said.
"We always had in the back of our minds that the Olympics was the one that we wanted to win this year so the World Series gave us the chance to build towards Rio and get everyone fit, healthy and ready to go."
The 2016 Rio Games will be the first time in 92 years that rugby has featured as an Olympic sport.
Australian women's Rugby Sevens squad: Nicole Beck, Charlotte Caslick, Emilee Cherry, Chloe Dalton, Gemma Etheridge, Ellia Green, Shannon Parry, Evania Pelite, Alicia Quirk, Emma Tonegato, Amy Turner, Sharni Williams.
Australian men's Rugby Sevens squad: Cameron Clark, Tom Cusack, Allan Fa'alava'au, Con Foley, Lewis Holland, Henry Hutchinson, Ed Jenkins, Nick Malouf, Pat McCutcheon, Jesse Parahi, John Porch, James Stannard.
