Australia Men’s Sevens captain Henry Hutchison and the squad are taking inspiration from UFC title contender Jack Della Maddalena as they prepare to fight for their respective titles in North America.
Hutchison flew the flag for the Australians at the launch event for the SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles.
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A week later, Maddalena will do the same in Canada, fighting for a world title against current champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 315.
The pair have been friends since school, with Maddalena joining the squad during the Perth event where they made the Final.
“Jack and I went to school together down in Melbourne,” Hutchison explained to Rugby.com.au
“He was a pretty good inside centre and as you can imagine, was pretty physical, pretty aggressive.
“We've kept in touch, and we've just followed each other's journey, and he's always just been in the background hunting and training and look at him now.”
Hutchison will support Maddalena from afar as he prepares to head to India for the new Rugby Premier League in June.
“I chat to him a lot, and he trains so hard and if there's one thing that you can really learn from him is just his discipline and his detail and his aggression towards his training,” he said.
“So many sports require that commitment, and he's got that in spades.”
The men’s side will unleash teenage young gun Wallace Charlie on debut, with Hutchison impressed with his physicality and consistency.
“What I've been most impressed with him about is his physicality and his durability. He's aimed up in contact drills, but he's also aimed up every day back to back,” Hutchison said.
“He hasn't just had a fantastic day on Monday and then falling away at the back end of the week.
“He's got a bright future ahead of him and hopefully we can let him shine on the world circuit.”
