Lewis Holland has always been a regular member of the Aussie Sevens.
Born in Braidwood in the Southern Tablelands of NSW on 14 January 1993, Lewis was raised not far away in Queanbeyan, just outside of Canberra, with his four brothers, all of which have plied their trade in rugby in one way or another.
A representative of the Queanbeyan Whites, Lewis was educated at Canberra’s rugby nursery, St. Edmund’s College, the same school attended by rugby talent, such as Matt Giteau, Robbie Coleman, the Faingaa twins and George Gregan.
During his time at school, Lewis represented both his state and country in 2010 as a member of the Australian Schoolboys team to tour New Zealand.
Lewis was part of the ARU’s National Gold Squad (a national rugby development program for high school students) from 2010 to 2012, with fellow ACT Sevens teammate Tom Cusack. Once out of school, the two took up a position in the Brumbies Academy.
Lewis caught former Australian Sevens Coach, Michael O’Connor’s eye with a spectacular performance at the Darwin Sevens through the Brumbies Academy. Though the Aussie Thunderbolts were knocked out in the quarter-finals by an invitational side, Lewis had done enough to earn himself an invitation to train with the National Sevens program.
Whilst he grew up playing the 15-a-side version of the game, the speed and attacking nature of Sevens appealed to the 18-year-old who, before too long, found himself bursting on to the international Sevens stage.
Lewis ran on for his debut in February 2011 in New Zealand at the world-renowned Wellington Sevens. It was a successful opening encounter for Lewis, as one of the youngest in a squad that featured the likes of Western Force flyhalf, Zack Holmes and NSW Waratahs players, Bernard Foley and Jono Lance.
That same year Lewis also represented his country at the 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games in England where he was given the honour of carrying the Australian flag.
He was amongst eight debutants joining the ranks for the inaugural Gold Coast Sevens Fever Pitch Tournament in October 2011, after the Aussie’s World Series home round moved from Adelaide.
In 2012 he was named for the U20s squad to travel to South Africa for the World Championships in Cape Town before competing in all but one tournament on the 2012/13 Sevens World circuit, contributing 187 points across the Series.
Now a crucial member of the Men’s Sevens, in 2013 Lewis was again included in the squad named to represent Australia at the Sevens World Cup in Moscow.
A player who cherishes every opportunity to represent his country, Lewis was gutted to miss out on last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after aggravating a previous hamstring injury. Lewis will, however, run out onto the pitch in Glasgow this weekend for the Aussie Men’s Sevens second last round on the 2014/15 Sevens World Series after being named in the 14-man side last week.
After recovering from an injury that ruled him out of the last two tournaments in Hong Kong and Japan, Lewis’ comeback is timely for the Aussie Men with the final remaining rounds crucial for Olympics Qualification.
With Australia currently sitting fifth in the rankings, the team will want to do everything they can in the last upcoming tournaments to squeeze their way in to the top four and make it to Rio in 2016, a dream that’s undoubtedly been on Lewis’ mind for a long time coming.
Off the field, Lewis was part of the Men’s and Women’s Sevens who graduated from their Business Diploma in December last year, as organised through RUPA’s Player Development Program.
