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'The Olympics would be on anyone's wish list': Wallabies rookie reveals interest in playing at Tokyo 2021

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Australia’s chances of medalling at next year’s Tokyo Olympics have received a boost with Wallabies rookie Tom Wright expressing interest at playing at next year’s Games.

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The two-test wing, who scored a try in his debut for the Wallabies in their 24-22 victory over the All Blacks in Brisbane earlier this month, revealed to The Aussie Rugby Show that the chance to take part in the Olympics would be “awesome”.

“I think the Olympics would just about be on anyone’s radar. We ran into a few of the [sevens] guys today and it was good to see them back training,” he said.

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The Aussie Rugby Show | Episode 28

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The Aussie Rugby Show | Episode 28

“I think to play at the Olympics would be on anyone’s wish list. Obviously focusing on all this stuff here first, but it’d be awesome to be part of if the opportunity came up one day.”

Wright, a former Manly Sea Eagles player in the NRL, would be a valued addition to the Australian sevens camp as they aim to achieve improve on their eighth place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

He could join former Wallabies and current Suntory Sungoliath loose forward Sean McMahon, who has already pledged his allegiance to Australia’s push for an Olympic gold medal.

Rugby Australia and Suntory Sungoliath struck a special deal last year to allow McMahon to play for the Australian sevens side despite being unable for the Wallabies under current eligibility laws.

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The 25-year-old played at last year’s Cape Town Sevens event on the World Sevens Series prior to the cancellation of the 2019-20 series – and the Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for July and August – due to COVID-19.

For the time being, however, Wright is focused on his duties with the Wallabies, with the side still in with a chance to clinch their first Tri-Nations title since their success in the Rugby Championship five years ago.

Hopeful of a tight encounter between the All Blacks and Los Pumas in Newcastle on Saturday, Wright admitted the Wallabies need to address their decision-making and accuracy that proved costly in their 15-all draw against Argentina last week.

Do that, and the Wallabies could emerge as champions with a victory over the South Americans at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney next week.

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“They’ve come over here to Sydney and put on a couple of clinical performances,” Wright told The Aussie Rugby Show of Argentina.

“It’s been a couple of days now since our game so we’ve had a bit of time to reflect on what was obviously a fair encounter but we probably didn’t put our best foot forward.

“A little bit of decision-making we’ve got to improve on and a little bit of accuracy when we first get the ball, so if we can tidy up a couple of those areas, I think we’re going to go a long way to putting on a better performance at Bankwest in a couple of weeks.”

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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