On the back of several solid Shute Shield seasons at Randwick, Dubbo boy Jayden Blake has made the most of his opportunity in the Aussie Sevens’ squad in recent months. 

Blake earned a late call-up to the training squad, then made a sudden World Series debut late last year and has made every post a winner since shifting to the shorter form of the game. 

“I got called into the program at the back end of last year and was really just trying to keen my spot in the training squad but I got an opportunity pretty quickly and unexpectedly in Cape Town, which was unreal,” Blake told Rugby News. 

“Then to get to play in Perth in a home tournament, it was just unreal. Cape Town was all last minute, whereas with Perth I had time to prepare and look forward to it and a heap of my family and friends came over so that was pretty special.”

Still in the infancy of his Sevens career, Blake has adapted quickly and made a match winning tackle in the dying stages of Australia’s semi final win in Perth over South Africa. 

“It’s definitely a different kind of fitness to XVs. There’s a lot more high-end speed running and you build a lot more lactic fatigue. It’s a lot quicker as well and I know at the start, it was a pretty big shock but I’ve started to feel more comfortable now and I think my body is starting to get used to it.”

He’s now part of a young and new look Sevens squad led by new coach Liam Barry and wants to cement his spot in the starting side on the World Series in the years ahead.

“My focus at the moment is solely Sevens because I want to make the most of this opportunity but there’s a lot more players swinging between Sevens and XVs these days. 

“I’m not sure where I’ll end up down the track but for now, I just want to put everything into Sevens and win as many tournaments as possible.”

Despite that, Blake said he’s stayed in touch with his teammates at Randwick who are also preparing for the upcoming season under a new coach. 

“It’s a bit of a shorter World Series this year and we’ll be finished by early June. I don’t know exactly what the plans are yet but I’d love to get back and play with Randwick. 

“We’ve got a new coach in Shaun Berne down there and all the boys seem really keen to make up for the disappointing end we had last year.”

A product of the NSW Country system, Blake finished his schooling in Dubbo and earned selection in the Australian Schoolboys before joining Randwick to play colts. 

He was awarded the Herron Scholarship from the Rugby Club Foundation to assist his move from the bush to the city to pursue a career in professional rugby. 

“I was really lucky to get that support from the Rugby Club Foundation. It allowed me to put everything into footy when I made the move and gave me time to get set up properly in Sydney,” he said. 

“I’m also halfway through a carpentry apprenticeship as well but I’ve put that on hold for now to focus a bit more on footy. I’ll go back and finish that off at some stage though.”