The All Blacks 7s team anticipates ruthless and aggressive competition from all their pool opponents in the 48th Fiji Bitter Marist 7s tournament.
The team was a late inclusion in the tournament, searching to provide some ample game time for the players returning from injury.
Things have fallen into plan as they will face some of Fiji’s top performing grassroots team in the pool stages.
Tabadamu and Nahehevia 7s champion, Fire will be their first opponent today and coach Tomasi Cama Jr is expecting nothing less than a gruelling encounter.
“When you look at our pools, our opponents are quality teams,” the former All Blacks star told this newspaper.
“The challenge is always going to be there, there’s going to be chaos, the weather and all other things that we can’t control but we talked about us and all the other things that we can control, what we want to achieve as individuals and as a team because there are spots up for selection for Hong Kong.”
New Zealand last featured in the Marist 7s back in 2022 and were bundled out in the quarterfinals by Army Green.
“We are looking forward to taking on these clubs because they are quality teams, they will challenge us and hopefully we will be able to deliver and play well.”
Like Fiji 7s mentor Osea Kolinisau, Cama will also be selecting his team for Hong Kong from this tournament.
“It’s a big challenge playing here but we’ve got a goal of making sure that we play well, play to our standards, it will be challenging but we are looking forward to that,” he added.
“The tournament itself has seen a lot of rugby players who have gone on to represent Fiji and we are hoping to do the same thing with our crew, identify areas that are good for us and those that we can grow and be better, this tournament will prepare us well before we select a team for Hong Kong.”
The All Blacks 7s will face Fire Rugby in its first match today at 10.17am at the HFC Bank Stadium in Laucala Bay, Suva.
