Sevens: Te Aihe Toma gives Dubai his best shot

Te Aihe Toma's flat, wide passes off both hands created plenty of space. Photo/John Borren.

Enjoying a banana and flavoured milk after being thrashed at one of Gordon Tietjens' legendary training sessions, Te Puna and Steamers halfback Te Aihe Toma reflected on his rapid rise in the sevens stakes.

"In the past, sevens has been for funsies," said Toma.

"I've never made the Bay of Plenty sevens team until this year. I thought I'd give it a good go at club level and then was called into the New Zealand squad for a trial.

"Then, I thought I'd give it a good go and gave myself the best opportunity and took it with both hands - well, more than two actually."

Toma, whose Te Puna side defended their Baywide Sevens title at the weekend by beating a strong Ranagtaua side, has bulked up considerably this year through his Steamers' involvement. He plans to increase his fitness and is using his rapid rise as extra fuel while following in the footsteps of Bay of Plenty products Liam Messam and Tanerau Latimer.

"This is where they started off, so it's a good place to be for me.

"Coming straight out of the Steamers into this knowing I've never made a high achievement in sevens ... last year it was more about the fitness but now it's about representing New Zealand.

"I haven't been to any of the Bay trainings yet because I've been called in to this but hopefully when this finishes, if I don't get called in for the national team, I can go back and represent the Bay."

Tietjens spotted Toma playing club rugby.

"He has some fantastic skill sets," said Tietjens. "I'm giving him the opportunity to come in here and train and be part of it and gain an understanding of the requirements to be an All Black sevens player.

"Liam Messam, Tanerau Latimer, I remember when they were both 17 they came through. Liam at the time was a solid young boy and a little bit unfit and he came out of the camps and it did wonders for him.

"Tanerau was the same ... He certainly had the skill sets and the commitment, then it's about everything else that's added on to that."

The camp is doubling as a clinic for coaches, with some of the country's top sevens coaches on hand to learn under the direction of Tietjens, women's coach Sean Horan and their respective teams.

BOPRU coach and development manager Chad Tuoro, who is taking part in the clinic, said the camp includes learnings on every aspect of the game, ranging from technical knowledge and drills to strength, conditioning and nutrition.

The group observed the women's team training on the beach on Monday and have run sessions utilising players from local secondary schools.

He was keeping a watchful eye on Toma's progress during a torrid session of drills that ran for nearly two hours without a break.

"We haven't had a Bay guy in the frame for a while, so hopefully he will learn lots and may go close to selection, but we will not find out until Thursday," said Tuoro.