Fiji experience was rewarding, say pair

Northland sevens players Rhys Te Nana and Matt Harrison returned from playing at the inaugural Uprising Fiji International Sevens Tournament in Fiji, better-off for the experience.
"It was a great trip ... it was a very good experience where we learnt a lot," Te Nana said.
The Northland players were selected for the Aotearoa Maori Invitational side after solid performances for their province at the National Pub Charity Sevens at Queenstown earlier this month.
Little over a week later, the pair winged their way to Suva, for a couple of days acclimatisation to the sticky Fijian conditions ahead of the tournament kick off last Friday.
"We had three training sessions together as a group before the actual tournament but we clicked pretty much straight away on the field. It was extremely hot and humid which made things pretty tough out there.
"You couldn't last as long on the field as you normally would, and fatigue set in a lot quicker."
The Matua Parkinson coached and Wayne Shelford managed Kiwi unit started the two day tournament at TFL National Stadium off well, comfortably defeating the Uprising Team made up of players from Fiji village teams, in pool play.
It was a different story when Aotearoa Maori came up against the Digicel Matai side however. Essentially a second string Fijian team, Digicel Matai was packed with former national representatives Ponipate Kato, Semesa Gonevou, Peni Rokodiva and William Ryder. New Zealand Sevens coach Gordon Tiejtens was the team's technical adviser while Fijian sevens legend Waisale Serevi was the coach-player. Aotearoa Maori struggled to keep their form against the more physical and experienced team and went down to the Fijian side.
After their mixed bag of results during pool play, Aotearoa went onto the Bowl quarter finals, where they met New Caledonia, and easily defeated them 38-5. Next up, in the Bowl semifinals, Aotearoa Maori met the other Kiwi side at the tournament, Ponsonby.
Te Nana, who played hooker throughout the tournament, and Harrison, who played prop, said the match against Ponsonby was a tough one.
"They pretty much dominated us - they were a bigger team and more physical at the breakdown, and we didn't stick to our game plan," Te Nana explained.
Aotearoa Maori went down 27-12, while Ponsonby went on to win the Bowl final. Meanwhile, Suva club side Red Rock won the Uprising Sevens championship final after defeating the Army team.
The first Uprising Tournament was a hit with organisers and players alike, and Te Nana said the experience was invaluable.
For now, however, Te Nana and Harrison have switched their focus back to 15-a-side rugby preparing for the club rugby season with Moerewa and Old Boys respectively, and with the Northland squad.