Australia’s men’s rugby sevens coach Andy Friend admits Ed Jenkins’ sudden retirement is a major setback for a side still struggling to compete with the world’s best.

The former captain was forced to pull the pin this week on the advice of doctors thanks to an ongoing shoulder injury.

It means the country’s most experienced sevens player will miss next weekend’s Sydney Sevens, as well as Gold Coast’s Commonwealth Games and San Francisco’s World Cup later this year.

Australia currently sits sixth in this season’s World Series after legs in Dubai and Cape Town.

Good signs in those tournaments, plus a near-perfect preseason, had Friend confident the first series win since 2012 was within reach in Sydney.

But he admitted Jenkins’ unfortunate departure would stop their progress.

“Yeah it’s major; he’s got 52 tournament caps, you can’t replace that experience overnight,” he said.

“He was mainstay of the program for the last 10 years and probably the face of sevens.”

“It definitely leaves a hole for us, but as we keep saying in this program we need other players to step up and fill that void.”

Determined to lift the profile of the side, Friend outlined Sydney, Gold Coast and San Francisco as clear targets this season.

But he said he was feeling the pressure to perform after a frustrating start to the World Series.

“We set our sights on three big titles this year … we know we’ve got to win, that’s part of my job and we want to do well on our home turf,” the coach said.

“At the moment it’s little moments.

“We had our chances in Dubai, we weren’t good enough there so we just have to make sure when we get our chances in Sydney, which we will, we’re good enough to take them.”

Australia will meet USA, Scotland and Canada in their Sydney Sevens pool, with action from January 26-28.