Former All Black Barry appointed Australia’s sevens coach

Australia Sevens © Getty Images

Former All Blacks winger Liam Barry was appointed head coach of the Australian rugby sevens team on Monday as they look to build on their fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics.

The 53-year-old, whose father and grandfather also played for New Zealand, takes over from John Manenti who retired after the Games in August.

“I’m very excited to take the team into the next cycle after what they did at the Paris Olympics,” said Barry.

‘I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, but build on what is already there.

“The players are fit, fast and skilled and I am looking forward to working with them.”

Barry represented the All Blacks from 1993 to 1995 before ending his playing career with spells at NEC and Kubota in Japan.

He spent five years as assistant coach of the All Blacks Sevens side and was more recently with High Performance Sport New Zealand.

Australia kicks off the Sevens season in Dubai on November 30.