The Manu Samoa Sevens team for the IRB Sevens Series legs in Wellington and Las Vegas is expected to be named today.
<script async src="http://www.samoaobserver.ws///pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
<!-- ads-articles(24.03.14) -->
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-9419815128221199"
data-ad-slot="2395638412"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>
{/googleAds}
Speaking to the Observer Sports yesterday, Assistant Coach, Galumalemana Rudolph Moors, said among the contenders for spots in the team are three overseas-based players who have joined the team.
Among them is Super rugby star, Tim Nanai-Williams, who is expected to be given a spot as he continues his push for a Manu Samoa 15s jersey.
“The majority of the team are local players and the final list will be announced tomorrow (today),” he said.
Moors said training has been going well and the team is itching to get on the field after a disappointing end of 2014 where they failed to qualify for the Cup finals in two consecutive tournaments.
“Fitness is the key for Sevens and that’s what we’ve doing a lot of work on,” he said.
“The players were disappointed but we’ve got to try and get over that and move on with what’s ahead of us.”
Galumalemana felt that the boys were mentally not ready for the challenge in South Africa and Dubai.
“I thought our preparations for those tournaments were good but obviously we were very disappointed with the result.”
“But like I said, we’ve got to try and move on and that’s very important. We’ve learnt from those mistakes and now we are looking at the future.”
“So we’ve been working a lot on our fitness, defense and how we treat the breakdown. We need to be more aggressive and protect our ball.”
The Wellington Sevens next week will provide a tougher challenge, said Moors.
“The upcoming tournament is going to be a very tough one and maintaining fitness is what we are looking at.”
Speaking to the lineouts, Galumalemana said that the combination is very important.
“Wellington is always tough. Although it’s like a home tournament, it always provides plenty of challenges. We’ve trained the best way we know how and we are ready to play.”
Galumalemana said having a positive attitude and honesty at training will be vital in Wellington and Las Vegas.
The team departs for New Zealand on Saturday afternoon. The Wellington Sevens kick off next Friday.
<ins class="adsbygoogle"
style="display:inline-block;width:336px;height:280px"
data-ad-client="ca-pub-2469982834957525"
data-ad-slot="1033882026"></ins>
<script>
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
</script>{/googleAds}