2020-2021 World Sevens Series

[booboo]

Opotiki?

[Bones]

Opotiki?

[booboo]

Don't get me wrong. I quite like the idea of the teams going out to the small towns. Just seems really random, but suppose no more or less random than anywhere else.

[ARHS]

Has there been any squad or contracted announcement? Saw a face in video clip of a newbie from the event at Blake Park but can't remember his name.

[Stargazer]

@ARHS I haven't seen an announcement, but maybe the new faces are the guys they picked from Ignite 7s?

[Bovidae]

@booboo said in 2020-2021 World Sevens Series:

Don't get me wrong. I quite like the idea of the teams going out to the small towns. Just seems really random, but suppose no more or less random than anywhere else.

Not that far to travel from their Mount base. No distractions either.

[ARHS]

@Stargazer Yes- might have been Ollie Sapsford or Dan Sinkinson

[Stargazer]

@ARHS Sapsford was already added to the squad pre-Covid (last season).

[taniwharugby]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/300212015/rising-star-brady-rush-following-in-famous-father-erics-footsteps-in-nz-sevens-squad

[Stargazer]

So the contracted AB7s and BF7s for 2021 are:

Media release:
https://www.allblacks.com/news/three-uncapped-players-join-sevens-squads/

So the newbies are:

Northland’s Brady Rush, North Harbour’s Moses Leo and in the women's squad, Waikato’s Manaia Nuku.

[Bovidae]

Montessa Tairakena has missed out too.

[Stargazer]

@Bovidae

Yep, some changes are expected, like Caleb Clarke, Scott Gregory, Niko Jones, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens, Joe Ravouvou (in France), Salesi Rayasi not being in the men's squad because they've decided to focus on XVs only. And they have significantly reduced the size of the squad from 25 to 20. So they only replaced two of the seven players who have left the squad.

In the women's squad, Kayla Ahki (McAlister) and Montessa Tairakena aren't in the squad anymore, and - according to the media release - Ahki has been replaced by Manaia Nuku, because she decided to return to France. It doesn't say anything about Tairakena, so we can only assume she's injured, no longer available or just not picked.

[Bovidae]

Tairakena was involved in the Ignite7 tournament.

Nuku must be rated ahead of Miller for the school girls.

[Stargazer]

@Bovidae Or they can't/won't sign a schoolgirl. Not sure how old Nuku is and whether she's still at school, but Miller is (I think). Or the position they're playing?

[Bovidae]

@Stargazer Nuku was the captain of the Condor Girls team that Miller was also in last year.

[Stargazer]

@Bovidae Yeah, last year. But will she still be at school in 2021, that's the question.

[Crucial]

Miller is only 16 (or just turned 17)
Has some school still to go.
I think Nuku has just finished school

[Bovidae]

Players can get a development contract while still at school. Jazmin Hotham did according to an article I was reading.

[Stargazer]

[Tim]

'The injuries I had, people think of them as career-ending': All Blacks Sevens' new recruit spent 18 months on the sidelines

In 2018, having undergone his fourth major surgery in a little over a year, Moses Leo could have been forgiven for turning his back on playing professional rugby player. Now, just three years' later, Leo is gearing up to play international sevens.