Four new faces in NZ Sevens
New Zealand Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens on Friday named four new faces in his 17-man national squad for the 2008 season.
Kendrick Lynn (25) of Southland, Ben Nowell (22) of Canterbury, Chad Tuoro (26) of Counties Manukau and 19-year-old winger Nafi Tuitavake of North Harbour will all feature in the successful Sevens coach's plans for the remainder of the 2007/08 International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series, which moves to Wellington next month.
Tietjens said all four players had stood out at the Charity Rugby Sevens tournament in Queenstown ealier this month, and at the national trial last week.
"Each one brings something special to the national team and that is exciting," Tietjens said in a statement on Friday.
"Kendrick Lynn is a good footballer blessed with an array of skills and I am sure that he will put these to effective use in the Sevens game.
"Ben Nowell is a workhorse and has showed his talent in the fifteens game. Chad Tuoro is an experienced player who had an impressive national tournament for his province and Nafi Tuitavake is still young but he is skilful and has a lot of Sevens potential," added the New Zealand Sevens coach.
In addition to the four newcomers, Tietjens has also named exciting New Zealand age grade representatives Victor Vito of Wellington and Israel Dagg of Hawke's Bay in his squad for 2008.
Both players made their New Zealand Sevens debut during the IRB Sevens Series tournaments in Dubai and George last year.
The remainder of the squad is made up of players who played for New Zealand during the team's successful 2006/2007 IRB Sevens Series campaign, including the 2007 IRB Sevens Player of the Year Afeleke Pelenise and 2007 New Zealand Sevens Player of the Year DJ Forbes.
"This is a good squad, the competition for places is healthy and the players will make it difficult for me to select the team for the NZ Sevens in Wellington next week," added Tietjens.
After the first two tournaments, New Zealand leads the IRB Sevens Series standings on 40 points, ahead of Fiji (32 points) and South Africa (24 points).
New Zealand: Tomasi Cama, Edwin Cocker, Israel Dagg, DJ Forbes, Nigel Hunt, Tafai Ioasa, Solomon King, Zar Lawrence, Kendrick Lynn, Ben Nowell, Afeleke Pelenise, Lote Raikabula, Rene Ranger, Chad Tuoro, Nafi Tuitavake, Victor Vito, Steven Yates
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