That’s not to say Jenkins and his teammates are anything but hell-bent on ending their 18-year Hong Kong drought, with victory potentially forming a key piece in the Olympic puzzle.

“To finally get a [tournament] win with this squad would be huge and knowing that we can win a world series leg would give us a lot of confidence heading to Rio,” Jenkins said.

“Hopefully we can get a win and get the monkey off the back up here.”

Australia have landed in Hong Kong with one of their strongest squads of the 2016 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, although coach Andy Friend was quick to pour cold water on the fanfare surrounding the inclusion of Nick “Honey Badger” Cummins.

“He’s only been with us a couple of weeks now, so I don’t think we’ll see the best of the Honey Badger in this tournament,” Friend said. “But you’ve got to start somewhere. It’s exciting to get him out there.”

That being said, the immediate influence the upbeat Cummins has had on the group was not lost on Friend.

“He brings a smile to people’s faces and certainly within the team gives a nice relaxing edge to the group,” he said. “But at the same time he’s a Wallaby so he’s got that experience too, so it’s good to have him.”

The Honey Badger himself is eyeing off restricted duties this weekend in his return to the sevens format.

“They were talking about the Singapore tournament but when some blokes go belly up, you have to bring the boys in whether they’re ready or not,” Cummins said.

“He’s [Friend] not stupid, he will look after me. He’ll put me on for say, half a game, and work me into the whole fitness side of things. I’m keen to get amongst it.”

Fourth-placed Australia are one of the form teams in the world series, notching up second place finishes in Sydney and Las Vegas and a third in Vancouver.

The loss in the Sydney final was particularly agonising, with New Zealand snatching victory from the Aussies’ grasp, but Jenkins is hopeful the squad will benefit from the big game exposure.

“We’re obviously getting a lot closer,” Jenkins said. “I think the pleasing thing is we’ve been consistent the last three tournaments.”

Jenkins and gun centre Cameron Clark come back into the squad that defeated Fiji in the bronze final in Vancouver as Australia prepare to tackle the United States, Argentina and Portugal in a difficult pool.

“The big thing we’ve talked about is just being more clinical in our execution in both attack and defence,” Friend said. “If we can do that, we will put ourselves in a good position.”