Gollings in sevens heaven with Bond position
THE Uni 7s tournament isn’t just about uncovering the future Charlotte Caslicks or Shannon Parrys to lead our national women’s team, it is also attracting new coaching talent too.
With the second leg of the tournament to kick off at Macquarie University in Sydney this weekend, Bond University coach Ben Gollings said coaches had been working closely with Australia coach Tim Walsh to ensure their programs are developing in line with each other.
Gollings is a legend of the sport who made 70 sevens appearances for England and holds the pointscoring record with 2652. Since retiring he’s coached in Sri Lanka, the USA, China and now Australia.
He said he took up the role on the Gold Coast for the chance to work in Australian sevens and his playing days alongside Walsh make his job that bit easier.
“It was an opportunity to get involved in elite level sevens here in Australia and also the opportunity to be working more local,” Gollings said.
“Sevens is something I’m pretty passionate about so it was great for me to be able to do that with my young family and where we’re living on the Gold Coast.
“Tim Walsh and I go back a long way, we used to play together, so we have a good rapport. Knowing the game, Tim trusts me to make sure the girls are up to speed with where they need to be. There’s a good amount of alignment.”
Bond sit second on the overall standings after losing 15-5 to University of Queensland in Round 1 in Tasmania.
Gollings said he expected the intensity this weekend to rocket now teams had experienced the other teams and players have had a taste for what it’s all about.
“It was a good leveller (Tasmania) and we have some things go really well, others we need to fix or work on,” he said.
THE vitality to the running game of Will Genia could be traced to sprint training, diet or dedication yet the youthful Wallaby veteran simply nods at the smiling face of his twoyear-old muse Olivia.
The all-important vibe from the champion halfback is that he wants to keep sniping and challenging ruck defences all the way from Saturday’s Test against the rearmed Springboks in Perth to the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Kurtley Beale’s defence, Sean McMahon’s non-stop grunt and Israel Folau’s rich vein of try-scoring were all big takeaways from the near-miss in Dunedin recently but few things ignite the Wallabies more than a “Free Willy” night out when the team’s smallest figure is running.
The contrast in the two Tests against the All Blacks could not be more stark … the duck eggs of no runs and no metres in Sydney and the dynamic impact of six runs, 57m and the finishing dash for a super try constructed over 80m in Dunedin.
There will be South African guard dogs on the fringes of the ruck to stymie Genia in Perth which is why it is so important that the breakdown work of the Wallabies’ forwards is clean and efficient to
free quick ball so the Boks aren’t so readily in position.
Genia’s stance is that chances to dart aren’t always there but his mentality is also that running just comes naturally when he’s loving the game.
Enter two-year-old daughter Olivia.
“We talk a lot about kids giving you new perspective but the biggest thing for me is every day I fall more and more in love with her as the most important person in my life,” Genia said. “She makes me enjoy my footy more.”
The return of top lock Adam Coleman from a shoulder joint injury, Sekope Kepu leapfrogging Allan Alaalatoa as scrum anchor and Tatafu Polota-Nau’s inclusion at hooker for the absent Stephen Moore shape as three likely changes for Saturday’s line-up.
Genia stressed that who wore the numbers on the jerseys was less important than sustaining what must be inside them at kick-off against a dangerous ‘Boks team on a five-win run after a haphazard 2016.