Australia’s charge towards Olympic gold will have a distinct western NSW flavour with Narromine’s Pat McCutcheon joined in the 12-man squad by Orange-born James Porch.
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The two players are at vast ends of the spectrum with McCutcheon providing plenty of experience and consistency while Porch is one of the side’s brightest young hopes and is someone capable of breaking any game open.
Both were part of the squad which finished fourth at the recent World Series and captain, and also Australia’s most capped player, Ed Jenkins said that tournament was the perfect prelude for the men in green and gold.
“The team went really well this year and it gave a few guys a chance on the circuit which was great for the side’s development,” Jenkins said.
“We always had in the back of our minds that the Olympics was the one that we wanted to win this year so the World Series gave us the chance to build towards Rio and get everyone fit, healthy and ready to go.”
This year marks the first time that rugby sevens has been played at an Olympics – and 92 years since the 15-man format was last played at a Games – and Australia goes in having recently finished fourth at the World Series.
The men’s rugby sevens competition runs from August 9 to August 11 at the Deodoro Stadium in Rio.
