Above: Jack Farrer, left, with players from both the Australian and Papau New Guinea national women’s rugby sevens teams after an opposed training session the pair had together at Moore Park on Friday, January 25, in preparation for Sydney Sevens which will be held from tomorrow through to Sunday at Spotless Stadium.

Jack Farrer was always a very highly-rated rugby union player, but many knew that he was destined for much more in the game than his on-field achievements.

From a young age the former Narrabri boy had developed a great understanding of the game, which continued to grow as he did.

So his recent appointment as team manager and assistant coach of the Australian Women’s Rugby Sevens national team has come as no real surprise.

Farrer, who played junior rugby for the Blue Boars and also represented Central North and NSW Country at junior representative level, was a standout for Sydney Uni at both the colts and senior grades.

He was selected to play in the Melbourne Rebels side that competed in the Australian Rugby Championship.

In the side’s first game of its inaugural season Farrer scored a try in a 32-27 win against the Canberra Vikings in Canberra.

The Rebels made it all the way to the grand final that year where they were defeated 20-12 by the Central Coast Rays.

Farrer kicked a conversion for his side in that game.

A promising career was later cut short due to a knee injury which resulted in Farrer being told he should never play again.

But his relationship with rugby union did not end there.

He has taken his knowledge of the game to forge a successful coaching career.

During his time as a coach Farrer has been the coach at Balmain Rugby Club, a coach of the representative side Sydney Stars, the director of rugby at Sydney University, and he even led Lisbon-based club CDUL to the Portuguese Premiership.

Now Farrer will be tested on one of the biggest stages of the game, with several tournaments approaching for the national sevens side including the Sydney Sevens starting tomorrow.

Farrer has been working in the roles with the national side since the beginning of the year and has enjoyed his first few weeks with the squad.

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