With remarkable blends of speed, strength and skill, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Antoine Dupont will make it look easy at these Olympics.

Their respective journeys to Paris, though, have been anything but.

Whereas the international sevens circuit is largely populated with “specialists”, Nawaqanitawase and Dupont are among those to have made the transition from the traditional 15-a-side game.

And, speaking from experience, it’s quite a shift.

Nawaqanitawase’s conversion to sevens started a few years ago, ahead of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. What was obvious was his strength in the restart part of the game. You score, you kick off and with that comes the opportunity to get the ball back and stack on more points. “Marky Mark” is a weapon in this aspect.

There is more to his sevens arsenal. His ability to get off the ground is as good as I’ve seen. His offload game is always a threat. And, being a bigger body, he can blow defences apart. That explosiveness - the ability to do amazing things in a........

© WA Today