How Olympic heartbreak is spurring Australia on before SVNS Series

Nathan Lawson was in tears after Australia’s crushing 31-7 loss in their semi-final at the Paris Olympic Games. Australia had shown immense potential throughout the tournament, but their dreams of taking home gold or silver were dashed by a dangerously good Fijian side.

Australia had one more chance to secure their spot on the podium against Olympic surprise packet South Africa. It was a tense contest, but a red card to Aussie skipper Nick Malouf proved decisive as they ended up falling 26-19 in a heartbreaking bronze medal match.

Team South Africa, who had only won two of four matches leading into the third-place playoff, made history as captain Selvyn Davids raced away for a late winner. The Aussies’ performances up until that point were deserving of a medal but sport is, unfortunately, not always fair.

More than three months have passed since those two agonising losses. It may have been the best result ever for the Australia Men’s Sevens side at an Olympic Games, but it took some time for that sense of accomplishment to sink in.

On Wednesday evening at the Rugby Australia Awards, Nathan Lawson took home the Shaun Mackay Medal as the Australia Men’s Seven’s Player of the Year. In a brief interview, the 25-year-old opened up on what the last few months have been like.

“Straight after the Olympics it was obviously very disappointing,” Nathan Lawson told reporters. “It settled in pretty much a couple weeks after, and just realising how well we did.

“To get there and not finish it off (with a medal) was disappointing but in the end, the effort that went into the whole year and into the Olympics was huge.

“To get to the fourth place was huge. Very proud.”

Last season, Australia made the Cup Final at both SVNS Cape Town and SVNS Perth. But consistency proved to be their toughest rival throughout a tough campaign, with the likes of Great Britain and New Zealand handing them heartbreaking defeats in key matches.

But with that in the past, the Aussies are preparing to usher in a new era during the upcoming HSBC SVNS Series season.

Following the departure of former coach John Manenti, the squad will turn to established players like Lawson to drive their campaign. Henry Paterson and Henry Hutchison are another two players to watch, as are the other Shawn Mackay Medal nominees Dietrich Roache and Ben Dowling.

Australia started the season poorly in Dubai last December, and they’ll be intent on making sure they don’t kick off the new campaign in the same manner this time around. Following the Olympics, this is Australia’s first chance to push for some silverware.

“You got that itch,” Dowling said.

“We had an off-season, had holidays, and I could tell the boys were itching to get straight back into it.

“It’s been an exciting pre-season and really looking forward to Dubai and Cape Town.”

The SVNS Series gets underway from November 30 to December 1 at Dubai’s The Sevens Stadium. Cape Town’s DHL Stadium will host the next leg from December 7 to 8. The only other events that have been announced at this stage are in Perth, Vancouver and Hong Kong China.