Sevens star Corey Toole is hoping his return to the program can make the difference ahead of a potentially special month for the Brumby.
The 24-year-old made his name in the shortened format after the Tokyo Olympics to help Australia to the world series title in 2021-22, eventually picked up by the Brumbies.
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17 tries in his first two seasons had him primed for a Wallabies call up, before conversations with Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt saw him make the brief detour before the Rugby Championship.
“I had a chat with Joe (Schmidt) a couple of weeks ago and he said the Olympics is the pinnacle of Rugby this year. It was a good conversation so I’m really excited to be amongst it and heading to Paris,” he explained to the media.
“Hopefully we can put a good performance out there and bring back a medal, play some good footy over there.
“We’ve got a great bunch of boys out here and coaching staff that helped me along the way. Obviously haven’t played in a while but with the coaches and players around me, hopefully I can hit the ground running over there.
"...The 2021-22 season was unreal and it was a quite successful year in winning the world series. I think most of the boys have stuck around for the last three years since then and they’re a good group and hopefully we can connect well in Paris.”
The red carding of Filipo Daugunu during Saturday's win over Georgia opens the door for Toole to come straight into the Wallabies side for a debut if Schmidt desires.
Schmidt will name his Rugby Championship squad in a fortnight ahead of the opener on September 10 against the Springboks, with Toole keeping his focus on Paris.
“It’s a possibility but there’s no guarantees. We’ll just have to wait and see," Toole stated.
“My full focus is on the Olympics and the Sevens team.”
Captain Nick Malouf was thrilled to have Toole and his speed back as they looked to unleash one of the fastest men in Australian sport.
“We saw what Corey could do on the Sevens field for us in the year we won in 2021-22 and been seeing plenty of glimpses of that throughout Super Rugby and he’s slotted back in perfectly," Malouf said to Rugby.com.au
“He’s such a weapon with his speed so we’ve been trying to get him in positions where he can unlock that for us. It’s as much about us getting reacquainted with his style of play as it is about him with us so the more we can give him opportunities to use his pace the better.
