Rugby: Speight called into sevens squad

Henry Speight in action for the Brumbies earlier this year.
Henry Speight in action for the Brumbies earlier this year.

Wallabies winger Henry Speight has been called into Australia's extended rugby sevens squad for the Oceania region's Olympic qualifying tournament in Auckland this weekend.

Australia's men hope to win the sole qualifying spot on offer for the region after finishing fifth in the sevens world series and missing out on automatic qualification for the top four teams.

Fiji-born Speight, who became eligible to play for Australia last year, has yet to play for his adopted nation in the format but has a background playing sevens in the Pacific.

"We have been preparing for this tournament for a number of months now and obviously Henry hasn't spent any time with the squad as yet," Australia's interim coach Tim Walsh said.

"However, we felt this was an ideal opportunity for him to get used to some of our systems and familiarise himself with the playing group.

"Despite only arriving back from the Rugby World Cup last week, Henry was keen to travel which underlines the passion he has to be part of this squad."

Speight will travel to New Zealand with a 15-man squad that will be trimmed by three on Thursday.

Australia play fellow Pool A rivals Nauru, Cook Islands and Tonga on Saturday at Auckland's Trusts Arena, with Pool B including Samoa, Papua New Guinea, American Samoa and the Solomon Islands.

The runners-up and third-placed side can still secure a berth for Rio at a later final playoff which has yet to be scheduled.

Japan's men defeated Hong Kong in the Asian regional qualifying tournament at Hong Kong stadium on Sunday to join Fiji, South Africa, New Zealand, Britain, Argentina, United States, France and hosts Brazil among the sides confirmed for the 12-team tournament.

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