Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate / Sport

Fans spur Sevens star on

Northern Advocate
7 Feb, 2012 02:40 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It's hard to go wrong when there's 30,000 fans dressed as Muppets, Lego men, astronauts, peacocks, ballerinas and pavlovas - to name a few - cheering you on in the black jersey says New Zealand Sevens player Bryce Heem.

The Northland wing was part of the victorious New Zealand Sevens team, who stole the show and won 24-7 in Saturday night's Wellington Sevens Cup final against rivals Fiji, played in front of a packed Westpac Stadium.

"The atmosphere was pretty awesome. With that many people cheering for you, you can't really go wrong," Heem said.

After two days of competing, the 23-year-old said his body was "pretty knackered" and he restricted the after-match partying to catching up with friends and relatives.

Heem burst onto the scene for the NZ Barbarians against the NZ Maori in the middle of 2010 showing great pace and elusiveness. He was included in Gordon Tietjens NZ Sevens squad in January last year following the national sevens in Queenstown.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After his stellar ITM Cup season with Northland last year, Heem had to have hand surgery but he recovered swiftly to return to the intense training regime set by Tietjens.

"My hand didn't bother me at all during the tournament. I was happy with my performance at the weekend, especially after not playing for a while," he said.

Only two days after completing round four of the HSBC Sevens World Series, Heem and the NZ Sevens team are flying out to prepare for this weekend's USA Las Vegas Sevens, the fifth round of nine-tournaments in the series.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The USA Sevens is held at Sam Boyd Stadium - the home of the University of Las Vegas Rebels football team - over two days of competition. It has been staged there since 2010.

"It's okay there - it's a lot different to every other tournament.

"The fields are really narrow because they are used for American football, so that changes our game plan slightly," he said.

However, coach Tietjens will not be wanting to change too much with the talented squad who claimed their sixth title in 13 attempts, putting New Zealand just ahead of Fiji in their bid for the overall series win.

In 15-a-side rugby, Heem came off contract this year for Northland and said he was not sure where he will go for the ITM Cup season.

"I'm currently weighing up my options," Heem said.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Premium
Sport

From Twickenham flashpoint to 'hit job' claims: The untold story and new details of Scott Robertson's All Blacks exit

06 Feb 05:02 PM
Northern Advocate

Shark encounter and heatwave tests ultra-swimmer on epic coast mission

14 Jan 10:00 PM
Sport

The three Fs that helped former Black Cap launch a new innings in life

31 Dec 05:15 PM

Sponsored

Cyber crime in 2025: Increased specialisation, increased collaboration, increased risk

09 Feb 09:12 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Premium
Premium
From Twickenham flashpoint to 'hit job' claims: The untold story and new details of Scott Robertson's All Blacks exit
Sport

From Twickenham flashpoint to 'hit job' claims: The untold story and new details of Scott Robertson's All Blacks exit

'F*** it': Coaching box and comms, politics and players – why Razor's dream fell apart.

06 Feb 05:02 PM
Shark encounter and heatwave tests ultra-swimmer on epic coast mission
Northern Advocate

Shark encounter and heatwave tests ultra-swimmer on epic coast mission

14 Jan 10:00 PM
The three Fs that helped former Black Cap launch a new innings in life
Sport

The three Fs that helped former Black Cap launch a new innings in life

31 Dec 05:15 PM


Cyber crime in 2025: Increased specialisation, increased collaboration, increased risk
Sponsored

Cyber crime in 2025: Increased specialisation, increased collaboration, increased risk

09 Feb 09:12 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • NZME Digital Performance Marketing
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2026 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP