World Rugby Sevens Series
Andy Friend confident Australia Sevens have turned corner despite Sydney heartbreaker
Sam Bruce
February 7, 2016
New Zealand break Aussie hearts

Australia Sevens coach Andy Friend is confident his side are heading in the right direction despite a heart-breaking loss to New Zealand in the final of the Sydney 7s.

The Thunderbolts looked set to end their four-year HSBC Sevens World Series drought on Sunday, as they lead New Zealand on four separate occasions throughout an epic final at Allianz Stadium. But they were beaten after the final siren when New Zealand's rising star, 18-year-old Rieko Ioane, touched down in the corner for a 27-24 triumph, giving the All Blacks Sevens a second consecutive tournament win following a similarly thrilling victory in Wellington a week earlier.

"Yeah listen they were gutted after that, which is a good thing too, you don't want them to be happy," Friend said.

"But we said to them they should be really proud of that performance; two games, 34 minutes against New Zealand and we're three points behind them. But we've got to be better.

"So I think the boys got a lot of belief out of the last two weeks especially -- we've just got to keep improving."

Australia, NZ produce a thriller
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The entire Australian squad stood up in front of their home fans, raising the question as to whether star Wallabies recruit Quade Cooper will be able to crack the 14-man roster for the Rio Olympics.

Cooper watched on from the sidelines throughout the two days in Sydney, getting a first-hand look at the transformation he'll need to make if he's to feature in Brazil.

One player sure to have already punched a ticket is Lewis Holland, the 23-year-old Queanbeyan native joining skipper Ed Jenkins in the Team of the Tournament in Sydney.

"Talking to (former coach) Mick O'Connor, he said that's the best he's ever seen him (Holland) play - he controlled the game really well," Friend said.

"I think he got his confidence there and he's a real threat with, and without, the ball, too. I thought his defence was excellent."

The World Series now shifts to North America with back-to-back legs in Las Vegas and Vancouver in early March.

Henry Hutchison (L) scored a number of tries for Australia on Sunday © Getty Images
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Australia have moved to fourth in the Series standings, 15 points adrift of co-leaders Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand.

Clearly buoyed by the home crowd - which totalled 73,313 across the weekend - Friend called on his troops to maintain the momentum for the remainder of the Series.

"Yeah and that's the important (thing) - we've got to back this up now," he said.

"We spoke about that last week after Wellington, you know fifth place, as I said before, you can look at that and say, 'well, that's not a special result'.

"I think for the players we took over there (Wellington) and where we've been, it was our best result for the year.

"But we've gone three spots better...but we've got to make sure we stay in that top three, top four."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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