They claim there is no substitute for pace in rugby. Australia’s men’s sevens rugby side now has two flyers who want to take the world by storm. Meet Henry Palmer and Hadley Tonga, both of whom run the 100 metres in under 11 seconds and were rugby stars in school.
Palmer, 20, is set to make his World Series Sevens debut this weekend after being selected for John Manenti’s Australian team for the opening legs of the new SVNS competition in Dubai and Cape Town. In his final year of high school at Hamilton Boys’ High School, Palmer ran the 100m in 10.6 seconds, placing second in New Zealand. He caught Australia’s sevens high-performance unit’s attention earlier this year by clocking 10.3 metres per second over 40 metres, but 18-year-old King’s School prodigy Tonga ran 10.4 metres per second, the highest recorded speed.
Palmer, who was born in Cambridge, England and raised in France, Sydney, and Bathurst, feels that he has had to play catch-up on the rugby pitch. His speed and finishing ability was one of the reasons why Stephen Larkham selected him for the Brumbies’ two-game tour of Japan against Suntory and the Ricoh Black Rams.
Tonga, 18, is another sprinter having signed a deal with the Australian Sevens team and the Waratahs. He followed in the footsteps of NRL stars Joseph Suaalii and Will Penisini, both of whom he idolized during school. Cheslin Kolbe, a two-time World Cup winner, is another player Tonga looks up to.
Australia’s 7s head coach, John Manenti, is excited to see how his young speedsters perform ahead of next year’s Olympics as he is hoping both Palmer and Tonga will impress him for a maiden medal in the men’s sevens competition. He is also keeping a close eye on two other speedsters, Corey Toole and Darby Lancaster, who are making transitions to Super Rugby programs.
In conclusion, speed is crucial in rugby, and the addition of Palmer and Tonga is an indicator that fast players are coming back into fashion. The end goal is to create opportunities and make an impression on the World Series Sevens stage, potentially paving the way for them to become Olympians. Manenti insists that having a group of players who can run at extreme speeds is essential and could prove vital for the success of the team.