Rugby: Rangataua off to Central Coast Sevens

Mason Walker in action

Rangataua Sports and Cultural Club takes on the toughest sevens competition outside the IRB World Series in Kanwal, New South Wales, this weekend.

The Tauranga club will rub shoulders at the Central Coast Sevens with national development teams from New Zealand and Australia full of seasoned stars, outstanding Fijian club teams brimming with international experience, plus national strength sides from Germany and Canada.

Last year, Rangataua were invited to the Central Coast Sevens as winners of the national club champs, the Middlesex Sevens. They return along with the 2015 Middlesex title holders, Wellington, after making such an impression on and off the field last year when Rangataua finished top of their pool and made the championship quarter-finals.

This weekend they are grouped with Aussie Thunderbolts, Germany and Red Rock from Fiji, twice winners of the highly regarded Coral Coast Sevens in Sigatoka, Fiji.

"The tournament this year will consist of some of the world's best sevens players and for Rangataua to experience this again will be invaluable," tour manager Matiu Taurau said.

"We will have a support unit of over 20 people again at this year's tournament, which will be a vital part of the team's success."

Rangataua are again captained by former All Blacks Sevens player Matt Clutterbuck and feature Bay of Plenty sevens players Akira Mako, Adam McGarvey and Curtis Van Der Heyden, plus former New Zealand player Nathaniel Walker.

One player Rangataua will be without is Mason Walker, who has been called into the New Zealand Development team named by All Blacks Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens. The strong side includes Dylan Collier, Bay of Plenty's Scott Curry, DJ Forbes, Tim Mikkelson and Lewis Ormond, who all turned out for the All Blacks Sevens in the 2014/15 Sevens World Series, as well as former All Blacks Sevens player Luke Masirewa. Rotorua Boys' High School star Isaac Te Aute gets another chance to impress Tietjens and it is a welcome return to top level rugby for Mount Maunganui's Teddy Stanaway, after concussion ruled him out of the 2014 rep season.

The All Blacks Sevens will play in Pool B against Australia B, Fijian side Yamacia and Australian club Sunnybank.

The women's draw features 16 teams, with Bay of Plenty-based NZ Wasps competing for the second year. Tauranga-based New Zealand Women's head coach Sean Horan has selected Bay of Plenty players Kelly Brazier, Lavinia Gould and Alexis Tapsell in the development side.