Northland sevens squad return winless

A disappointing trip to Pukekohe resulted in plenty of food for thought for the Northland Rugby Sevens squad.

Coaches from the Northern provinces organised an impromptu quadrangular tournament featuring Northland, Counties, Waikato and North Harbour on Saturday to further prepare their squads for the upcoming Mount Maunganui Sevens and the National Sevens at Queenstown in early January.

Northland never appeared to fire and played unconvincingly against Waikato, Counties and Harbour, who they played twice, and returned winless.

Northland coach Peter Nock said it was a disappointing effort from his squad who have been training hard since last month.

"It was pretty poor all-round really. We need to undergo big improvements if we are to do well at our next hitout in Mount Maunganui," Nock said.

It was the squad's mental attitude which was letting them down, the coach said.

"The skills and talent to win are all there, it's just a matter of belief and the team finding that push and desire to go the extra mile."

Nock is adamant his squad will turn their luck around, if they start believing in themselves and in their cause to do well at nationals - a point which was stressed at an "honesty session" the team had following games on Saturday. Northland are still dealing with a few injury concerns - Beau Dickens (hamstring), Jimmy Horsford (back/ankle) and Rhys Te Nana, who is managing a serious knee injury, were ruled out of playing at the weekend, and Nock is hopeful at least Dickens and Horsford are fit for the Mount Maunganui Sevens on January 2.

The squad have three training sessions before Christmas and will train after, until they leave for the Bay of Plenty on New Year's Day.

A team will then be finalised for the Pub Charity New Zealand National Rugby Sevens Tournament in Queenstown, from January 7-8.