Rugby-Australia Olympic sevens team gets boost from Friend

SYDNEY, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Australia's men's sevens team's aspirations for the Rio Olympics got a boost on Tuesday with the appointment of Andy Friend as their full-time coach. However, the 46-year-old will miss the next two tournaments in the world sevens series in Wellington and Sydney due to club commitments with Suntory in Japan until the end of January. The Wellington tournament is on Jan 30-31, with Sydney the week after and the former ACT Brumbies and Harlequins coach will take charge when the team heads to tournaments in Las Vegas and Vancouver in March. The men's team has not had a permanent coach since Geraint John left the side last year. Women's coach Tim Walsh stepped in on an interim basis and ensured the team qualified for Rio by winning the Oceania qualifying tournament last November. Friend, who was part of the Wallabies coaching setup in 2002 and 2003 and an assistant coach for the sevens in 2005, said he felt the Australian side had plenty of opportunity to surprise at Rio. "The Australian squad that has been developed over the last few seasons shows great promise, and I'm very excited about working with those players," Friend said in a statement. "The potential and growth of the game in Australia is enormous, so it's our collective responsibility to play a brand of rugby that excites people and attracts new support. "I'm really looking forward to the challenge ahead and making Australians proud to watch their team." Rugby sevens will make its debut at the Olympics in August, though the full version of the sport was last played at the 1924 Games in Paris. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Alan Baldwin)