New Sevens debutant Aden Ekanayake has credited his long stint in the program for building the belief he can thrive on the SVNS World Series for Australia.
Ekanayake looms as one of the future stars of the program after debuting in Cape Town, making an instant impact with tries against France and Great Britain in their seventh-place finish.
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The 19-year-old has been a part of the program since being spotted straight out of school, impressing for Australia at the Global Youth Sevens in 2022.
The Gordon product travelled with the team as the 14th man for several events and conceded he needed that time on tour to help build his confidence and readiness for last week's debut.
“If I got the opportunity to debut last year I would’ve definitely felt out of my depth but…I did feel like going into it (this year) I was far more prepared to be in the program for a long time," he told Rugby.com.au
“I felt a lot more comfortable but there was still nervous before the first game because it’s still a hump that sometimes you’re not ready for but this time I was ready.
“It was pretty exciting (to debut). Syd (Harvey) and I got our caps presented which was very surreal.”
Ekanayake (pronounced Eh-Kan-Ny-Kah), who has Sri Lankan heritage through his dad, played a big part in the U20s World Championship campaign.
The brutal five-day turnarounds at that event have prepared the flanker for the rigours of the World Series along with giving him nostalgic memories as he returns to Cape Town for the second leg of the 2024-25 season.
“That experience was very helpful just to get my technique right in defence and be prepared if you’re taking a bigger body was it great to bring back into Sevens which I hadn’t had much of in the past which was great," he explained.
“I’ve been sending a few of the boys from the 20s photos of where we used to go for the four weeks that we were there so it’s pretty cool to be back in the same place.”
The simplification of his role has helped settle Ekanayake into the squad as he learns from experienced players such as Nathan Lawson and Michael Icely.
“The big thing in this team is to play my game for the team when at the start, I thought you’d have to do everything but it’s been dumbed down a lot to ensure I’m nailing my role," he admits.
“The guys are helping show what my role can be and what it looks like so they’ve been pretty helpful with that.
“…This tour has been a lot more player led so a lot of the boys have helped settle the nerves and keep everything calm. The leaders have been great and stepped up to help out where need be, especially for us young boys because there’s a fair few of us that only have a couple of tournaments.”
The Australians will be out to repeat their run to the Final in Cape Town last year as they face Spain and Kenya in the group stages.
It comes as World Rugby tweaks the format on account of the back-to-back events, with the pools moving to four groups of three, seeing the top-ranked side advance straight to the semi-finals.
