It's a name synonymous with big and powerful, but North Harbour speedster Nalu Tuigamala snuck into this week's national sevens camp at Mount Maunganui like a timid 5-year-old on his first day at school.
Tuigamala, a more compact version of his uncle, legendary All Blacks winger Inga Tuigamala, copped a thrashing from New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens yesterday in a brutal morning of speed and fitness testing.
Tietjens has pulled together a squad of 24 to pick a team for the Wellington leg of the IRB sevens series on February 6-7.
"That Tietj, eh?" Tuigalama said between breaths, waiting for the countdown to the dreaded beep test. "I arrived here pretty nervous because it's my first time. The speed's all right [but] I was definitely faster back in the third form.
"I dunno how the fitness will stack up or if I'm what they're looking for but at least I'll leave with a good idea how fit I am."
Tuigamala, halfback for the world championship-winning New Zealand under-20 side last year, is inspired by his famous uncle's deeds for the All Blacks.
"He [Inga] always asks how my rugby's going when he comes for dinner and gets to my games. He's a real motivation."
Reporoa's Scott Curry, who starred for Bay of Plenty at the national sevens tournament in Queenstown two weeks ago, was a surprise call-up to the trial this week.
Curry, 20, has been studying at Massey University and was surprised to be one of the last standing in the beep test.
"It's an eye-opener - all the new guys arrive knowing Tietj's reputation but I'm reasonably happy with how I went considering it's my first year of sevens."
Tietjens will select a side after a full day of inter-squad games today, where he's keen to see who lasts the distance.
"The proof in the pudding will be how they pull up from today [testing] and get through the games. I'm running the camp like a four-day tournament, seeing who can recover quickly and go again," he said.
"What was noticeable in Queenstown was how some guys shone on the first day, obviously fatigued quite bad and weren't seen again."
New Zealand, the reigning IRB sevens series champions, will use the Wellington contest to jump-start their title defence. The opening two tournaments of the season have been won by South Africa, who lead the series on 40 points, followed by New Zealand on 28.
Tietjens wasn't panicking about New Zealand's start, attributing their lack of dominance to several factors.
"It's tough straight away taking a bunch of guys out of 15s when they're not conditioned to the rigours of sevens and, two weeks before I pick the first squad, [Super 14 selectors] say 'I'll take him, him and him', and all of sudden I have to find five or six replacements for guys I thought I'd have.
"We've got some catching up to do, but when you look at those first two tournaments and the fact I took eight new guys over there [to Dubai and South Africa], we're not far off the pace." Tietjens was less enamoured with the World Cup draw released yesterday which has thrown New Zealand in with Tonga, hosts Arabian Gulf and Italy for the Dubai tournament on March 5-7. Reigning champions Fiji will face France, the United States and Georgia in Pool B.
"It's a toughie having Tonga there because they're going to take all their best players to the World Cup. They'll give any team a shake on their day."
Sevens hopefuls get thrashed
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