Who is Dietrich Roache: Ten things you should know about the Australia sevens back

Dietrich Roache possesses pace to match a sprinter and an accurate kicking game.

He has adapted to sevens very quickly after a youth career mainly in rugby league.

Ten things you should know about Dietrich Roache

1. Dietrich Roache was born on 6 July 2001 in New South Wales. His parents are Samoan and his first name is attributed to German ancestry on his father’s side.

2. He attended Catholic school Patrician Brothers’ College Fairfield and places religion at the centre of his life.

3. He was part of the Patrician Brothers rugby league team that won the NRL Schoolboy Cup in 2018.

4. Having initially focused on rugby league, Roache was inspired to switch codes after watching the Sydney Sevens in 2018.

Roache swerves away from New Zealand defenders (Getty Images)

5. Despite his late introduction to sevens, his father and uncle played for rugby union club Western Sydney Two Blues (formerly Parramatta Two Blues). Roache would belatedly follow in their footsteps after making the transition from league.

6. He competed for Australia at the 2019 World School 7s in New Zealand, before signing a two-year contract with the senior team the following year.

7. Roche was selected for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and was the youngest member of Australia’s men’s sevens team.

8. He secured Olympic selection at the expense of former Australia sprint champion Trae Williams, whose 40m time of 4.59 seconds was matched by Roache.

9. Solid with the boot and a regular try-scorer, Roache amassed a competition-leading 280 points over the first eight rounds of the 2021-22 World Sevens Series – his debut campaign.

10. He is a keen hair-dresser who enjoys giving team-mates a cut when on tour.

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