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Queensland Reds openside flanker Liam Gill is particularly looking forward to the Commonwealth Games for two major reasons.
The first is that he hopes playing for Australia in Rugby Sevens will provide a reminder to the right people that he’s back to full fitness and ready to play for the Wallabies again.
The second is the chance to tell his Reds’ teammates, props James Slipper and Greg Holmes, all about the dark arts of scrummaging, with Gill set to be thrust into the front and only row of the Sevens scrum.
“Yeah, well I’m usually copping flak from blokes like ‘Slips’ and Greg Holmes for not pushing hard enough,” Gill laughed. “So now the onus is back on me, and I don’t think I’ll be finding any sympathy from them.”
“I’m excited about it! I haven’t packed a scrum – well not properly, according to my [Reds] front-rowers – since the last time I played Sevens, so it will be interesting to get back in there and fight it out. And then I’ll go back and tell those blokes how to scrummage.”
On a serious note, Gill is hoping the Games will provide a wonderful stage to show his wares at the international level. Despite a chequered run with injures that limited him to just eight Super Rugby appearances, Gill still has the goal of playing for the Wallabies in 2014.
“The experience and the honour of representing your country at a Commonwealth Games is massive,” Gill told me during the Australian team’s preparation camp, prior to heading over to Glasgow.
“I’d love to be part of a successful team at the Commonwealth Games, that’s my immediate plan. Beyond that, I’d love to prove that I can play for the Wallabies again,” Gill said.
Prior to heading to Glasgow with the Australian sides, Gill spoke of the adjustments he had to make to his natural game, to cope with the change to rugby Sevens from the 15-a-side game. Some are obvious, like improving aerobic fitness and having to pack into the front row as mentioned above.
Other adjustments aren’t the first thing you necessarily think of when making the transition.
“Sevens is all about working in threes; a ball-carrier, a clean-out person, and then a halfback to pass. The passes in Sevens are obviously a lot longer, and they need to be a lot more accurate. That’s one area of the game which really I haven’t had to focus on. A long pass is something a number seven doesn’t usually have the luxury of making [in the 15-a-side game],” Gill said.
“It’s certainly very telling for forwards, especially. We’re used to picking and going, and lineouts, and mauling, but to now step back onto a Sevens field, and from the halfback spot you look up and see your ‘10’ about fifteen metres away, and you’ve just got to send it. It’s great, I find it fun. It will help your 15-a-side game, but on that aspect the skills are different.”
Pre-Commonwealth Games form
Patchy, in a word.
Not because his form has been up and down, but simply because his Super Rugby season has been so stop-start. That’s just another reason why Gill has jumped at the chance to head to Glasgow.
“My Super Rugby’s been very stop-start and staggered. It’d be nice to be able to put together some game time over the Sevens tournament, and to prove that my fitness is there and that my skills are there, and just show that I am capable of playing for the Wallabies again.”
Commonwealth Games history and expectations for Glasgow
Gill was part of the Australian Sevens side who took Silver at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. “There was so much publicity about how disorganised and how unstructured Delhi was, but if that’s disorganised and unstructured, I can’t wait to see what Glasgow holds, because I absolutely loved Delhi, and I’m looking forward to this just as much,” Gill said.
Part of the beauty of a Commonwealth Games, of course, is coming up against countries you might not have encountered before. For the Aussie side in Glasgow, that means trying to prepare for rugby powerhouses like Sri Lanka and Uganda, who they’ll meet in the pool games.
“I think we had a similar pool in Delhi, too,” Gill said. “I don’t know anything [about rugby in Sri Lanka and Uganda]! But that’s another exciting factor… my debut in Delhi was against Guyana – I didn’t even know Guyana was a country until I ran on against them!”
Away from rugby, Gill is hoping to see a bit of the hockey as he did in 2010, and hopefully a bit of swimming. “I was a swimmer when was younger, and I’ve loved watching how successful the Australian Swim Team has been over the last decade or so, so I’d love to get to the pool and catch the back end of that if we can.”
Why should Aussies get behind him?
In all honesty, Aussies should get behind Liam Gill because he’s an Australian player, full stop. Too much discussion about the virtues of one rugby player over another in these pages unfortunately descends into parochial and often irrational tackle-waving, which frankly bores me to tears.
Liam Gill coming back to full fitness and pushing his claims for Wallabies selection via the Commonwealth Games Sevens tournament is a wonderful thing for Australian rugby. And that’s not because he may or may not be a better openside flanker than current Wallabies Captain, Michael Hooper, but because increased completion from places builds proper depth and pushes all the individuals to push themselves further.
In truth though, with the Australian Men’s Sevens side still to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Glasgow represents the first opportunity to find some form ahead of the start of the 2014/2015 Sevens World Series. For all the talk of the lure of the Olympics in player retention and game development, it all counts for naught if they don’t qualify.
Beyond that, Glasgow also marks the beginning of the Geraint Jones’ tenure as Australian Sevens coach, after long-term coach Michael O’Connor stepped down earlier this year. Gill says Jones and the team have come together well in pre-Games camps, and that’s good to know.
A Commonwealth Games medal would be the perfect start on the road to Rio.
Fast facts
– Gill has 15 caps for Australia’s national rugby union team, but didn’t make the squad in 2014
– Has 50 caps in Super Rugby, despite being just 22 years of age
– Was an emergency call-in for the Reds’ last game of Super Rugby for 2014, and had to leave Commonwealth – Games preparation for the match
– Captained the Australian Under-20s side in the IRB Junior World Championship
– Renowned for his strong pilfering ability, which will be invaluable in sevens
This article was first published on the Tenplay website here.