Australia Men's Sevens captain Henry Hutchison says they'll rally around star Dietrich Roache after his knee injury.
Sevens officials confirmed that Roache, who picked up the injury during pre-season, is expected to miss the entirety of the 2024-25 SVNS World Series.
Roache underwent surgery on Monday as the team landed in Dubai for the opening round of the series.
“Losing 'Dietch' is super disappointing, he’s so critical to our team and been one of the first or second picked every single game,” captain Hutchison said to Rugby.com.au.
“He’s a great kicker, attacker, defender bu also so good for the team environment.
"…Any injury to such a senior player is a massive disappointment to the team, but an opportunity for the team to grow and when 'Dietch' comes back, he'll come back into a stronger team and that will make him a better player.”
Roache's setback is a major blow for the Sevens side, finishing the year as the second-highest point-scorer behind Irish superstar Terry Kennedy.
It paves the way for the likes of debutant Sid Harvey to step into the role, named for his Australian debut.
Harvey was one of the standouts during the U19s Super Rugby competition with the NSW Waratahs and has impressed Hutchison during the build to Dubai.
“Losing (Dietrich) is shocking but like anything, it opens an opportunity for someone else and Sid Harvey has been training with us for a little while…these opportunities allowed him to jump in and probably get that start or get that opportunity to play more game time a bit earlier than he probably would have expected," Hutchison notes.
“Sid’s a great footy player with a really good IQ. I’ve been impressed with him. He backs himself, which is good.
“With Sid being a left footer, they’ve just slotted in and out (in pre-season) so whilst we’ve lost a lot of Dietch’s expertise, more boys will have to step up like Sid. Ben Dowling will probably have to play a little bit more minutes but I know that he’s got that in him.”
Harvey is joined by Aden Ekanayake as the two debutants for this week's event, with Hutchison excited to see what the Australia U20s star can do.
“He's been training for us for the best part of 18 months no, he's been in and around the program and he knows the plays and boys so he's ready," Hutchison added.
“I thought his time in the 20s was great. He really matured through his leadership there and he's also put on a lot of size which is fantastic.
“He's a real point of difference in the air and he'll be one of our restart threats so we'll look to find him when he's on the field. I’m really excited to see how he plays. Yeah, I'm really excited to see both our debutants start.
