Junior Wallaby who stunned Blitzboks reflects on SVNS Series ‘dream’

The Australian Sevens program has unearthed another gem.

At just 20-years-old as of Tuesday, Aden Ekanayake has been one of the finds of this season’s HSBC SVNS Series, with the former Junior Wallabies backrower going from strength to strength on the international stage since debuting at December’s event in Dubai.

James O’Connor, Charlotte Caslick and Henry Hutchison are among those who have stood out for one of the Aussie sevens sides in years gone by. O’Connor played at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2008, the same year the utility debuted for the Wallabies in the Tri-Nations.

Catch up on the action from the HSBC SVNS Series on RugbyPass TV, which you can sign up for HERE.

Caslick and Hutchison are both considered legends on the sevens circuit, and while it would be naïve to include Ekanayake's name in the same breath at this stage, there’s no doubt the youngster has a bright future in rugby union ahead.

About one year ago, Ekanayake was lining up for the Australia U20s at the inaugural U20 Rugby Championship on the Sunshine Coast. After starting at blindside flanker in two of Australia’s three matches, the Sydneysider was picked in that Aussie team's squad for the big time.

At the World Rugby U20 Championship, Ekanayake wore the No. 6 jersey in five matches, including 80-mintue shifts against Georgia, Italy and Wales. Heralded as a young star, the flanker’s performances over in South Africa pointed towards a promising tomorrow.

The chance to represent Australia in senior rugby awaited.

With former captain Nick Malouf retiring after the Paris Olympics and Nathan Lawson heading to the NRL with the St George Dragons, Ekanayake was presented with the chance to debut on the SVNS Series in Dubai and also play in Cape Town the following weekend.

“It was a dream to play in gold jerseys,” Ekanayake told RugbyPass last month.

“The last year has been unreal, like completely surreal, a whirlwind, whatever you call it.

“I’ve just been getting picked in teams and it’s just been absolutely amazing.”

It’s an interesting move.

Ardie Savea played on the SVNS Series some years ago and is now a front-line All Black who was named World Rugby’s Player of the Year about 24 hours after the dramatic Rugby World Cup Final at Stade de France in 2023.

Four-time John Eales Medallist Michael Hooper also made a brief sevens switch with the Games in Paris the goal, although the former Wallabies captain wasn’t quite able to have a standout impact at last season’s Hong Kong Sevens and the event in Singapore.

Ekanayake, much like New Zealand’s Oli Mathis, is developing unique skills for a backrower.

With ambitions of one day returning to 15s, Ekanayake has highlighted the off-field influence of seasoned sevens professionals as a major influence and a learning curve for the young man.

“Obviously, a lot of the skills relate more to the outside backs and everything like that,” Ekanayake explained.

“When I go back to 15s, I might be a little bit out of touch with set-piece so that’ll be a nice little wakeup call when I get back there and we’re doing seven versus seven mauls which will be nice.

“It’s probably more around some of the performance areas. You pick up little things from professionals on the circuit, so like preparing your body, recovery, how they are able to switch on and off all the time and in the right moments.

“I guess those will be more the things that I take when I go back to 15s.”

Ekanayake’s crowning moment in a gold jersey so far is fairly easy to pinpoint.

This is the type of moment rugby players dream of as young men and women.

With thousands watching on Perth’s HBF Park on Australia Day, Ekanayake scored the winning try in a semi-final win over South Africa, in extra time no less. The youngster had reeled in the restart to give Australia possession to begin with, and what happened next was stunning.

It was poetry in motion.

“It was pretty surreal. If hadn’t seen a bunch of videos I wouldn’t remember it very well,” he reflected.

“It was pretty cool, very cool having that moment.

“At the end there, I was just right place, right time.

“They had six blokes on the field from memory and we just spun the ball to the edge and it was a matter of scoring with our possession.

“It was a pretty cool moment but I’m just playing my role.

“Looking up and seeing a massive stand of screaming Aussies which was pretty cool, and then all the boys as well, they were just as hype.

“We’d been getting better and better that tournament, obviously started off pretty slow and ended pretty poorly but that semi-final is probably one of our better games.”

After four regular season rounds on the Series, Australia occupies sixth spot on the men’s standings, which is one place above traditional foe, New Zealand.

While the Aussies’ second-place finish in Perth is the closest they’ve come to taking out a Men’s Cup final this season, the squad remain optimistic about what lies ahead. With youngsters like Ekanyake, Sid Taylor and Hadley Tonga getting a run, this is a team on the rise it seems.

When asked if Ekanayake considers himself a better sevens player now after a few months on the circuit, the young man didn’t hesitate.

“Definitely.

“The growth for me was massive in Perth, especially with the minutes that I was playing compared to Dubai and Cape Town.

“It’s been pretty good.”

The next stop on the SVNS Series is, traditionally, one of the more popular events. On March 28 to 30, the highly-anticipated Hong Kong Sevens will get the party started at the new venue Kai Trak Sports Park.

After this event, Singapore will host the final round-robin leg of the 2024/25 season before the World Championship decides the overall Series winners from May 3 to 4.