Rugby sevens: NZ hope to kickstart campaign

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens hopes his side will revive their international sevens rugby campaign in South Africa this weekend, as they did last year.

New Zealand last year lost the series opener in Dubai, then rebounded to seal a sixth consecutive series -- no other team has won the series.

After New Zealand failed to win in Dubai they regrouped in South Africa to blow away the other favourites Fiji and England.

England retained the Dubai tournament title last weekend when New Zealand failed to make the top four, eliminated by finalists Fiji in the quarterfinal.

"It was strange not seeing the blacks (New Zealand) in the semis or finals last week," Fijian player-coach Waisale Serevi said.

Tietjens hoped to forge a similar route to the top of International Rugby Board series as his side did last season.

He felt his team were better for their disappointment, better prepared and more focused this week.

"We made some mistakes and got punished, but it was great game of sevens and there were only two points in it in the end," he said of their loss to Fiji.

"It was an experience for some of the new guys in the side -- they were playing in front of a noisy 30,000 for the first time."

A raid by the Super 14 coaches has depleted the squad.

He lost seven players from last season, denying him immense sevens experience he had developed over the years.

Tamati Ellison, Roy Kinikinilau, Liam Messam, new All Black Isaia Toeava and Tanerau Latimer are among those gone from the squad.

As a result, Tietjens has brought Zar Lawrence (North Harbour), Hayden Pederson (Otago) and Alfred Pelenise (Canterbury) into the squad for the first time.

He has recalled such players as Matua Parkinson, Mana Ashford and Justin Wilson to provide some experience to the team in another rebuilding phase.

Tietjens will face a major challenge to win a third consecutive Commonwealth Games sevens gold medal in March.

Rivals such as Fiji, England, Australia, Canada and Samoa will be fully loaded their with their best players in Melbourne.

Tietjens has been allowed to pick only one player from each of the five Super 14 franchises, others will have to come from elsewhere.

Current squad members have an inside running for the Games squad, though a few are expected to force their way into the team from the national tournament in Queenstown next month.

Lawrence scored six tries in his first tournament last week and is second to a new star in the game, England's Tim Varndell, in the sevens try-scoring stakes.

Varndell, 20 and a 100kg winger with blistering pace, has scored 10. A regular try-scorer for his Leicester club, he will miss the South Africa tournament due to club commitments in England.

"No tournament is easy these days. We got knocked out in the quarters last week and it won't be easy in the pools either this week because we've got Wales and Argentina -- two capable teams really," Tietjens told NZPA today.

New Zealand open the two-day tournament overnight tomorrow against Kenya, then meet Wales and Argentina.

England have Samoa and Canada in their pool while Fiji are drawn alongside Australia and Scotland.

Hosts South Africa have arguably the easiest of the four pools, with France, Tunisia and Zimbabwe drawn alongside them.

England lead the series with 20 points, followed by Fiji 16, South Africa 12, Samoa 12, New Zealand 8 and France 6.

Pools for the South African sevens this weekend:

Pool A: New Zealand, Wales, Argentina, Kenya
Pool B: Fiji, Australia, Scotland, Namibia
Pool C: England, Samoa, Canada, Portugal
Pool D: South Africa, France, Zimbabwe, Tunisia

- NZPA