Sevens legend to scout for local talent at tourney

WATCHFUL EYE: Eric Rush is helping select the Northland team this season. PHOTO/FILE

Northlanders taking part in today's club rugby sevens competition in Hukerenui have extra incentive to play - with an All Blacks Sevens legend charged with spotting local talent.

Kaikohe's Eric Rush is helping select the Northland team this season, with Rush saying there were a few guys who have talent and obviously haven't had a lot of sevens coaching.

Northland sevens manager Kyal Collins said Rush felt there was plenty of talent in Northland but needed more specific coaching, seeing as sevens was shifting to being a profession rather than an addition to 15-a-side rugby.

The competition, which starts today at 10am and runs through to about 4pm, will have 16 teams involved - some of which are travelling up from Auckland.

Collins said this weekend would be about building on last weekend's opening round of the club sevens in Moerewa.

"The Moerewa tournament was absolutely massive and well hosted ... you'd stand on one end of the park and look back and it was like a grand final, there were that many people there," he added.

"I'm hoping teams build on team and personal performances so players to build into our [Northland] campaign. It's about raising the bar for sevens in Northland."

Collins thought Mid Northern's number one team would be a strong contender for the win while Moerewa also looked a quality side along with Kamo.

Auckland's St Kents team won top honours by beating Mid Northern 31-27 in the championship final.

In the cup final, another visiting team in the form of Fraser Tech from Hamilton beat out the Western Sharks 30-14.

Mid Northern's second team had a similar fate to their top one, losing in the plate final 17-12 to Kerikeri. Moerewa's second team won 10-5 over Hikurangi in the bowl final.

Collins felt the inclusion of Auckland teams into the local competition meant a higher level of play across the board.

"It adds a bit of a different flavour, it's good to have outside teams coming up."