New Zealand sevens coach Gordon Tietjens says four players
were unavailable through injury when he named his squad of 12
for this weekend's leg of the international series in
Wellington.
Injury ruled out Scott Curry, Mark Jackman, Toby Arnold and
Milford Keresoma for the tournament, which is also a popular
event on the social calendar in Wellington.
Tietjens said his squad was tough to select given the
competition within the wider squad and the improving form of
his young tyros.
"The squad has worked really hard coming into Wellington and
it's always a pretty special tournament for the players, but
as is always the case we have had to make some hard
decisions," Tietjens said.
"We have got a lot to build on given our good start to the
season and I know the guys are really excited about playing
in front of a home crowd. We won last year in Wellington so
it would be fantastic to back up last year's victory.
"But we will have to work hard. The competition is getting
tougher every year and our competitors will be looking to
make up ground on us here so it will be a challenging two
days."
New Zealand lead the international series after three
tournaments. This weekend's event starts on Friday with the
finals to be played on Saturday.
New Zealand squad: Kurt Baker (Taranaki), Tomasi Cama
(Manawatu), Sam Dickson (Canterbury), DJ Forbes (captain,
Counties Manukau), Gillies Kaka (Hawkes Bay), Rocky Khan
(Auckland), Ben Lam (Auckland), Luke Masirewa (Waikato), Tim
Mikkelson (Waikato), Lote Raikabula (Wellington), David
Raikuna (North Harbour), Belgium Tuatagaloa (Canterbury)
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