Australia Men’s Sevens coach John Manenti is confident a trip to the Top End can perfectly acclimatise the squad before they embark on their Olympic campaign.
Manenti and the squad are in camp in the Northern Territory with less than a month until they kick off their Olympic tournament.
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Sweltering conditions are set to welcome them in the French capital, with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees expected for the next couple of days in Paris.
With Sydney freezing through winter, the Sevens program is in search of warmer weather to help prepare them for what to expect.
โWe’ve left the Sydney cold where it was wet and miserable and this is the perfect preparation for us for Paris where it’s going to be 35-plus degrees over there in the middle of their summer,โ he said to reporters.
โThis is the closest we can get (to those conditions) and we love coming up here. It’s a really great spot and there are great facilities, so we’re really happy to come up here.
โWe don’t get the opportunity this time of year in Sydney to train under extreme temperatures at night because itโs 5-10 degrees so itโs nothing realistic about it.
โPutting ourselves under the heat stress is really important around our preparation (for Paris).
โWeโll have one week in Sydney after this and then head over to Tours which is three hours south-west of Paris and thatโs where weโll be based for the next couple of weeks before entering the village.โ
Manenti has taken a strong squad up to the NT, which includes former Wallabies Mark Nawaqanitawase and Michael Hooper along with Brumbies superstar Corey Toole.
He will trim his squad down to 12 in a week’s team, with two further travelling reserves to be confirmed.
For now, the squad is deep in preparation whilst also scheduled to run school holiday clinics with Northern Territory’s rugby juniors.
โIt’s nice to be able to engage with the community up here and hopefully some of these kids one day aspire to play for the Wallabies or the Rugby 7s team,” Manenti said.
The Australians have been drawn in Pool B and are set to face Argentina, Samoa, and Kenya.
