Rugby sevens: Captain confident in new boys

Captain Tafai Ioasa has asked those predicting more bleak results for New Zealand at the International Rugby Board sevens tournament in Wellington to remember the last series.

In December, six-time champions New Zealand made a poor start to the IRB event with quarter-final exits at Dubai and George in South Africa and now lie a distant sixth.

Another such result at Westpac Stadium over the next two days in the third of eight tournaments could be a death blow to the hosts' title chances, but Ioasa refuses to panic.

He leads a team with seven new faces but said it reminded him of the last series year when a NZ team featuring five newcomers romped to their third straight Wellington title.

"We had a similar situation then and look what happened. It's not really a lot different now," said Ioasa.

"We weren't at our best in the first two tournaments last year either. All that has changed this time is the faces and it's looking really good."

Ioasa and halfback Amasio Valence are the only recognised sevens names in the New Zealand team and, with North Harbour flyer Zar Lawrence, are the only survivors from the first two tournaments in the present series.

The confident skipper belied the pessimism surrounding his team's prospects this weekend, saying coach Gordon Tietjens had once again plucked out some excellent talent.

"A couple of friends asked me what these new guys were like and I just said, 'Watch them, they're good'. That's about all I can say," he said.

"We're quite a physical team but we've got pace all over the park.

"We've got a lot of boys who can tackle, but the key to that is our fitness."

Tietjens said he had selected a much more defence-oriented team than the one "exposed terribly" in December.

Among the most physical newcomers are New Zealand and Auckland under-19 loose forward Onosa'i Tololima-Auva'a and Otago NPC flanker Alando Soakai.

A notable speed injection comes from slippery Wellington newcomers Cory Jane and Lote Raikabula.

Ioasa said it wasn't so much the cleanout of personnel from the first two tournaments but better physical preparation which would hold his team in good stead, adding that the raucous Westpac Stadium crowd had been a major factor in each of the past three years.

Tournament favourites and series leaders Fiji knocked New Zealand out in each of the December tournaments but those teams won't meet until at least the semifinals tomorrow.

Before then New Zealand will probably confront either Argentina or South Africa in the quarter-finals, assuming they advance through a pool today that includes the dangerous Samoa.

The other opponents are Kenya and a Cook Islands team featuring former Kiwis rugby league international Kevin Iro.

New Zealand beat Argentina 31-7 in last year's final, a game marred by a bite delivered to Tamati Ellison by Santiago Gomez Cora.

That incident saw the Argentinian red-carded and banned for 10 days.

* New Zealand sevens team:

Charles Baxter, Bay of Plenty
DJ Forbes, Auckland
Nigel Hunt, Wellington
Tafai Ioasa ,Hawke's Bay, capt
Cory Jane, Wellington
Zar Lawrence, North Harbour
James Maher, Counties Manukau
Lote Raikabula, Wellington
Alando Soakai, Otago
Dwayne Sweeney, Waikato
Onosa'i Tololima-Auva'a, Auckland
Amasio Valence, Auckland

The draw

Pool A: England, Australia, Scotland, Papua New Guinea
Pool B: Fiji, France, Canada, Niue
Pool C: New Zealand, Samoa, Kenya, Cook Islands
Pool D: South Africa, Argentina, Tonga, United States

Series standings

Fiji 36
England 32
South Africa 24
Argentina 20
Samoa 20
New Zealand 14
France 10
Australia 8
Wales 4


- NZPA