Sevens team on path to nationals

Moves to have Wairarapa-Bush contest the national sevens rugby competition in Queenstown in January will be advanced a stage further when a "field day" is held at Carterton tomorrow, starting at 10.30am and finishing at 1pm.

New Zealand sevens star Lote Raikabula, who turned out for Carterton in this season's Tui Cup premier division interclub series, has been supervising training sessions for a group of players interested in representing their province at the sevens game.

And the progress they have made has been impressive enough to organise an event where they will confront opposition from the Wellington and Manawatu regions.

Raikabula will play for the Wairarapa-Bush squad and his teammates will include at least a couple of secondary school players plus others from the Carterton, Eketahuna, Greytown and Martinborough clubs.

Meantime, the draw has been released for a series of representative 15-a-side games to be played at Memorial Park and Featherston tomorrow.

The draw is:

Heartland championship: Wairarapa-Bush v Wanganui, Memorial Park No1 at 2.30pm (B. O'Keefe, Wellington; C. Jefferies and S. O'Gorman; S. Andrew and K. Lochhead).

RDO Cup: Wairarapa-Bush B v Wanganui B, Memorial Park No 1 at 12.45pm (T. Baker, Wellington; S. Andrew and G. Hall; K. Lochhead and G. McKeown).

Under-18: Wairarapa-Bush v Manawatu, Memorial Park No2 at 2pm (C. Webster, Manawatu; W. Jeffries and P. Thompson).

JAB under-11: Wairarapa-Bush v Horowhenua-Kapiti, Featherston at 12.30pm (C. Roseingrave).

JAB under-13: Wairarapa-Bush v Horowhenua-Kapiti, Featherston at 1.30pm (T. Roseingrave).