Corey Toole Makes Unexpected Transition from Olympic Village to Wallabies Camp

Just a week after nearly winning a bronze medal at the Olympics, a Rugby 7s star could make his Wallabies debut.

Olympian turned Wallabies hopeful Corey Toole knows there’s a lot of adjusting to be done in his immediate future after a whirlwind trip from Paris to join his new teammates in Brisbane, but moving beds is one he’s enjoyed.
Toole was in the airport on the way home from Paris, having fallen agonisingly short of a bronze medal in the Rugby 7s competition, when Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt called to confirm he’d been parachuted into the squad ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener in Brisbane.

Less than 24 hours after landing in Canberra, where Toole has been a star on the wing for the Brumbies, he was headed to Brisbane and a “nice and soft” hotel bed, which was a lot better than the “quite hard” and controversial cardboard beds athletes slept on in the Olympic village.

It was a call-up Toole was “never quite too sure” about despite Schmidt playing a role in his decision to head to the Olympics for an experience the 24-year-old thinks will only help him when it comes to making the leap to Test rugby.

“He (Schmidt) was pretty key for me to go over there,” Toole said on Tuesday.

“Obviously, the Olympics is a massive event and as you saw each day got sold out not only the guys but the girls too.

“It was a bit of a shock running out on day one with the first game, usually just playing in front of one or two thousand fans, but quite surprising playing in front of the packed stadium game one.

“It was an unreal experience and I’m glad it’s a part of it.”

Toole tried to lose weight in the short time between the end of the Brumbies’ Super Rugby Pacific campaign and the Olympics to adapt to the fast-paced seven-man game but without much effect.