Former Wallaby and Rugby League international Michael O’Connor has been named coach of the Australian Sevens team.
O’Connor, who played 12 Tests for the Wallabies between 1979 and 1982 before switching to League, takes over from previous coach Billy Millard, who has taken on an assistant coaching role with Cardiff Blues in Wales.
O’Connor said he hoped to fully utilise the Australian Sevens program as a development tool and provide players with a potential fast–track through to higher representative level.
“Sevens is the best form of talent identification in the Australian Rugby Union and we really need to utilize it to its full potential,” he said.
“As a former Sevens player I know what a great arena it is for skills development and it is the ideal testing environment for judging a player's skill and ability under pressure.
“Not only does Sevens improve skills, it gives young players a tremendous opportunity to experience touring conditions and benchmark themselves against players around the world.”
A key role for Sevens
Head of the ARU High Performance Unit, David Nucifora said O’Connor’s experience within Australian Rugby will better integrate the Sevens program as a development tool and bring synergy to the existing talent identification and player pathways.
“We want to lift the importance of where Sevens sits in the Australian Rugby pathway and bringing a person of Michael’s stature in the game on board will help lift the profile of the program,” Nucifora said.
“Michael has had experience as a selector of every Australian national team, including the Wallabies, and he will be a key asset in providing continuity between our development programs.
“With national coach Robbie Deans a key supporter of the Sevens program, Michael’s involvement will assist in creating a genuine pathway for Sevens players to reach full-time professional rugby and hopefully the Wallabies.”
O'Connor’s first assignment will be to run selection trials in Brisbane and Sydney later this month and pick a squad for the first rounds of the 2008/09 IRB Sevens World Series in Dubai and South Africa in November and December.