The Bay of Plenty men's and women's sevens teams have been named to contest the TECT National Sevens title on their home turf in Tauranga this weekend.
Men's head coach Sean Horan has named a well-rounded side which will be co-captained by Tauranga Sports' Josh Honey and Rangiuru's Elijah Nicholas.
Horan said the team was excited to play in front of a home crowd and would focus on each game as it came, which he believed would provide the best platform to progress into the latter stages of the tournament.
"We've been excited about playing in Tauranga since it was announced. It is always pretty special being in the first for something," he said.
Horan was pleased with his team's progression leading into their final tournament, despite the loss of a couple of key players to injury.
"The team has built nicely over the past couple of months. We have a young group of men keen to show their skills. We've lost a couple of key players, Te Aihe Toma and Isaac Te Aute, which was a bit of a speed bump, but it gives another player an opportunity and those players are really looking at showcasing their skills.
"We're really proud to be representing the home province of the TECT National Sevens. I believe if we play to our potential we'll be in the race, we have a great bunch of guys that really enjoy being together."
Bay of Plenty women's head coach Rodney Gibbs has named a young team strengthened by the experience of Black Fern Les Elder and other experienced campaigners captain Rebecca Kersten and Kendra Reynolds.
"We will be focusing on settling our nerves and getting the first game across the line before we look any further ahead," Gibbs said.
"We know from our qualification tournament we have great attacking ability and speed on the outside. We now just have to believe in ourselves and work as a team to place our girls into space."
He encouraged the local community to get out and support the Bay of Plenty sides this weekend.
"It is always a privilege to play at home and we are fortunate enough to do just that. It is exciting to be able to play at a new venue and we hope that we can gather plenty of support to give us another extra edge over our opponents."
