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Australian Rugby Sevens coach Michael O’Connor has told UR7s that some solid preparation time could give his side an edge for Friday’s NZI Sevens in Wellington.

The coach made three changes to his squad which will take to the Westpac Stadium for the third leg of the IRB Sevens World Series on Friday.

Captain Patrick McCutcheon has recovered from a groin strain and is fit to play in the two-day event, while former Western Force and Brumbies halfback James Stannard has been called into the side to replace the injured Zack Holmes (shoulder).

Dominic Shipperley has replaced Shaun Foley with Robbie Coleman dropping out of the 12-player squad and exciting Australian Schoolboys product Kimami Sitauti is included thanks to his performances for the Aussie Spirit in Darwin, which impressed O’Connor.

The Australians have enjoyed a thorough preparation for the event, training with the likes of Kenya post-Darwin in anticipation of this weekend.

"We got to work on areas of our game which needed improving. We took a very young squad to Dubai and George and they would have benefitted enormously from that. Darwin was good as it means we have had a decent length of time together," said O'Connor speaking to UR7s.

Australia bravely beat defending World Series champions South Africa to lift the Plate in Dubai, but fell away in George a week later, only managing a draw against Russia and crashing out in the Plate semi-finals.

Developing a Sevens IQ

O'Connor feels his young side didn't really know what to expect from their first IRB Sevens experience but will continue to learn and improve in time with a Cup semi-final a realistic target.

“We had no-one with experience so they now know more what to expect. I'm sure it was down to the fact they were young and not use to playing the back-to-back tournaments

“I hope our 'game sense' can improve, making decisions in certain situations, Sevens is no different to anything in life - you have to learn the hard way. Hopefully these last few tournaments will have added to their Rugby IQ.

“We've made a lot of quarter-finals but the next aim must be to try and make a semi-final, that's what we're looking at.”

Australia open their campaign against Papua New Guinea and will also face Scotland and Fiji on Friday in the race to the Cup knockouts.

Australian Sevens Squad for Wellington and Las Vegas:

Pat McCutcheon (capt), James Stannard, Brian Sefanaia, Eddie Quirk, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Jacob Taylor, Brackin Karauria-Henry, Talalelei Gray, Kimami Sitauti, Clinton Sills, Dominic Shipperley