Australia Sevens coach Michael O'Connor has included twins Ed and Jono Jenkins in his squad of 12 to compete at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.
The Jenkins brothers, 22, both play for Sydney University and are the first twins to represent Australia at a World Cup Sevens event. Jono plays flanker in the longer form of the game, while Ed is a winger.
Shaun Foley’s selection in the squad caps a remarkable re-emergence onto the rugby union scene. The 22-year-old 2004 Australian Schoolboys representative from Waverly College made his return to the game in Darwin after a three-year spell in rugby league with the Sydney Roosters.
The Randwick full back performed well enough in Wellington and San Diego to convince O’Connor of his World Cup pedigree.
Queensland’s Damon Murphy will captain the squad and O’Connor has resisted the temptation to bring in additional firepower from Australia’s Super 14 squads.
His priority is to build on the development work already undertaken with his existing group on the IRB Sevens World Series.
“The players selected today have worked hard to gain their places and deserve their shot at playing in a Rugby World Cup,” O’Connor said.
Competition for places
“Pleasingly from my perspective, the competition for places was significant and we did have a few hard selection calls to make. That in itself is an indicator of the progress we have made after effectively starting from scratch with the group before the current IRB World Series began."
Australia heads to Dubi on the back of a Bowl-winning performance at the USA Sevens, its best finish this season.
“The gap between the top sides has closed. You can see that, both in the overall tournament results, where we are getting a number of different countries winning events, but also in terms of the individual matches that are being played. It really is coming down to what happens on the day.
“There are no easy games for anyone anymore. Just seeing the likes of Wales and Kenya topple New Zealand at the recent Wellington and San Diego tournaments is great for my guys because it re-emphasises to them what they are also capable of achieving.”
Australian men's squad for the Rugby World Cup Sevens: Damon Murphy (Queensland, captain), William Bishop (New South Wales), William Brock (Western Australia), Ben Coridas (New South Wales), Shaun Foley (New South Wales), Ed Jenkins (New South Wales), Jono Jenkins (New South Wales), Richard Kingi (Queensland), Luke Morahan (Queensland), Brian Sefanaia (New South Wales), Afusipa Taumoepeau (Australian Capital Territory). Henry Vanderglas (Australian Capital Territory).
