Overlooked Wallabies wing joins Australia sevens squad

Overlooked for the Rugby World Cup, Jack Maddocks is joining his older brother Will in the Australian men’s sevens squad as they attempt to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

Melbourne Rebels star Maddocks was considered unlucky to miss Wallabies World Cup selection, but he has been training with the Cup squad in Japan on standby ahead of their first match against Fiji on Saturday.

Rugby Australia said he would be loaned to the sevens program in a short-term move ahead of their Olympic qualifier, the Oceania Sevens, in Fiji in November.

The 22-year-old will join the squad in Germany for this month’s Munich Sevens.

Australian men’s sevens coach Tim Walsh said he was excited about having two Maddocks in the squad.

“Jack is a quality athlete and an amazing rugby player; he can run, leap, jump, weave and is a competitor, which is exactly the kind of player we want,” Walsh said.

“Will has been no slouch either and continues to smash records in the team with his speed and fitness, so to welcome Jack is going to enhance our environment.”

With six Test caps, Maddocks said he was looking forward to trying something new.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to go test out sevens for a bit and have a crack,” he said.

“Tim (Walsh) hit me up to see if I was interested.

“I haven’t played much of sevens before so the challenge excited me, and it was a good opportunity to play with my brother so that was a big lure for me.”

Maddocks will return to the Rebels after the Oceania Qualifier and remains on stand-by for the Wallabies’ Rugby World Cup campaign.

– AAP