Preview: IRB Sevens, Wellington
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:28
While Gordon Tietjens' New Zealand team will look to continue their dominance, Paul Treu's South African side will hope to stop the rot when Round Three of the International Rugby Board Sevens World Series take place in Wellington on Friday and Saturday.
The Kiwis, well ahead on the standings in the 2009/10 series after winning in both Dubai and George, are looking a good bet to add a ninth IRB title to Tietjens' growing list of accolades.
This is a far cry from the Springbok camp, where the defending IRB champions look to rebuild a squad devastated by injury and Super 14 call-ups - having been knocked out in the quarterfinals in both Dubai and George.
In fact the situation allows Tietjens the luxury of introducing talented youngsters into a settled and victorious environment - which has been the hallmark of their eight succesful campaigns since the advent of the IRB Series.
Adding to the level of confidence and belief that New Zealand can continue their unbeaten run in the current series is the fact that they will be at home.
Preparations so far have gone well said Tietjens, adding that the series leaders are ready to hit the ground running in their opening match against last year's World Cup winners, Wales, on Friday.
"I've got a very big team, a big pack and we're certainly going to be very, very physical on the weekend. We need to work towards that," said Tietjens.
"We've got some real pace on the outside in Sherwin Stowers and Save Tokula so it's good to have that as well."
Stowers is the series' leading try-scorer with 15.
"He's very, very quick, he's electric.
"It's great to have someone who can finish tries. You know you can put that guy in space and he's certainly going to score at the other end which is great."
Another of those big men that will be unleashed on their unsuspecting opponents is young Fritz Lee.
Tietjens describes him as 'punishing', while teammate Zar Lawrence reckons he's the Terminator, but according to powerful Sevens rookie, Lee, his hard-hitting style is all part of him 'just doing his job'.
At 108kg and 1.90m tall, Samoa-born Lee – the only new face in the New Zealand squad for this weekend's Wellington sevens - is a big presence on the field and revealed he modelled his game on former All Black Jerry Collins.
"That's a big part of my game, the physical side and mental side of things," Lee said.
"He [Collins] was pretty aggressive. He's the man and he's Samoan too," he added.
Tietjens, who has a canny knack of unearthing rare talent, has certainly been impressed by his latest recruit, who only became eligible for New Zealand at the start of the year.
"Fritz is a player with huge rugby potential," said Tietjens. "He won't be long in my side I wouldn't think before he's a Super 14 player. He's got a massive amount of potential.
"He loves the contact – he's a big hitter – he's great with ball in hand. I'm really excited for him. He's 21 years of age and he is certainly really keen and can't wait for the weekend."
Compare this to the situation the Boks find themselves in.
Four new caps, the loss of several stalwarts and a disappointing start to the season has forced the Treu's men to adapt a new approach and a different game plan in Wellington.
The South African team is in New Zealand without the injured trio of captain, Paul Delport, Neil Powell and Ranfred Dazel. During the off-season the team also lost a number of key players to provincial unions and Super Rugby franchises.
And to top it all, on Friday the team will have to fight it out against home team and tournament favourites, New Zealand, and Sevens World Cup holders Wales for one of the two top pool positions and passage to the knock-out stages. Niue makes up the fourth team in Pool A.
"It is no use to cry over those losses. Yes, losing those players plus the injuries all had an impact, probably bigger than we expected, but those are the typical challenges you must confront in any sport," said Treu.
"We had plenty of time to reflect and to look at what went wrong, but we have to be positive and readjust our focus. One of the positives is that we now have the opportunity to blood four new players who come with a different sort of energy, enthusiasm and ambition."
Treu felt that his team can learn from New Zealand, and the way Tietjens' side has fought back bravely from the disappointments of last season.
"It seems apt to me that we should be in Wellington for this next tournament, because in many ways I want my team to do exactly what New Zealand have managed to do in recent times: suck up the disappointment, learn from it and get better.
"I have a lot of admiration for the way New Zealand have hit back so far after what was a disappointing year for them last year. For Gordon and his side not to have won a Cup title in a season isn't something that's happened much in the 10 years of the Series, but you can already see how positively they have reacted by winning the first two tournaments.
"I now want my players to do the same."
While the Day One focus will be on a loaded Pool A - New Zealand, South Africa, Wales and Niue - there is sure to be as much drama in the other pools.
Fiji, the Kiwis' biggest threat so far in this series, head Pool B - where Australia and Scotland block their pathway to the play-offs. Papua New Guinea would be expected to be cannon fodder for the big guns of this pool.
Pool C could also provide some real drama, with England and Kenya - the latter ever the crowd favourites - sure to contest top spot in their pool. However, the United States and Tonga can never be written off.
Samoa and Argentina are the fancied teams in Pool D, but France - despite often blowing hot-and-cold - have the capacity to upset the big guns. Canada will never surrender, but their most likely victories are to come from Day Two's action in the lower leagues.
Schedule, Day One:
(Kick-off is local time - GMT + 13 hours)
Match 1: Samoa v France, 13.00
Match 2: Argentina v Canada, 13.22
Match 3: England v United States, 13.44
Match 4: Kenya v Tonga, 14.06
Match 5: Fiji v Scotland, 14.28
Match 6: Australia v Papua New Guinea, 14.50
Match 7: New Zealand v Wales, 15.12
Match 8: South Africa v Niue, 15.34
Match 9: Samoa v Canada, 15.56
Match 10: Argentina v France, 16.18
Match 11: England v Tonga, 16.40
Match 12: Kenya v United States, 17.02
Match 13: Fiji v Papua New Guinea, 17.24
Match 14: Australia v Scotland, 17.46
Match 15: New Zealand v Niue, 18.08
Match 16: South Africa v Wales, 18.30
Match 17: France v Canada, 18.52
Match 18: United States v Tonga, 19.14
Match 19: Scotland v Papua New Guinea, 19.36
Match 20: Wales v Niue, 19.58
Match 21: Samoa v Argentina, 20.50
Match 22: England v Kenya, 21.12
Match 23: Fiji v Australia, 21.34
Match 24: New Zealand v South Africa, 21.56
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