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Australia’s men’s fourth placing at the Sydney Sevens exceeded expectations but coach Andy Friend admits his youthful side lacks power.
The hosts fell short of a final berth when they were outclassed by tournament winners South Africa 26-12 in the semi-finals on Sunday at Allianz Stadium.
Australia went on to lose their third-place play-off against New Zealand 29-14 in their second defeat to the men in black in as many days.
Friend praised his team’s effort to reach the top four but said their downfall was being unable to match it with more mature-bodied and experienced teams.
“”We need to get stronger, which we will. We’ve got 18-19-year-old boys out there,” Friend said.
In their semi, Australia were no match for the speed and power of the world No.1 Blitzbokke, who piled on four tries to two.
The home side conceded the opener within a minute, but hit back through a sizzling 50m run to the corner by young gun Tim Anstee for an unconverted try.
South Africa extended the lead to 12-5 on the stroke of halftime with their second try and put the result beyond doubt after the sin-binning of Mick Adams (dangerous tackle) and James Stannard (tripping) in quick succession reduced Australia to five players.
It was a similar tale in the contest for bronze against New Zealand, giving up an early advantage then struggling to get into the contest.
Friend said the most pleasing aspect of the tournament was the side’s growth.
“”We had bodies behind the scenes pretty sore and pretty broken, but they got themselves up for that (final game),” Friend said.
“But that’s part of being a sevens player. You’ve got to learn to deal with that.
“In two weekends, we’ve had six debutants who can look at themselves and say, ‘I’m a world series sevens player and I’m up to it.’ Our depth has just grown by six players.”
Australia started the tournament with a group stage loss to New Zealand but recovered to post convincing wins over Scotland and Papua New Guinea on Saturday.
In the quarter-finals, they outclassed a dangerous Wales side which had beaten Olympic champions Fiji in their pool match.
“Our target was quarters, so to go one better and get in the semis, I’m really pleased and really proud of those young blokes,” Friend said.
Top-ranked South Africa recorded their third win from four world series legs with a comfortable victory over England 29-14 in the final.
Australia improved from eighth to sixth on the world championship standings.
The sevens world next turns its attention to Las Vegas in a month’s time when Australia will meet Fiji, Japan and Scotland in the group stages.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.