As a first receiver and sweeper Trent Hape knows there's no hiding in sevens rugby when he takes the field for the Hawke's Bay men in Levin today.
"In sevens it's whoever turns up on the day so you can't pick and choose [who will be tough] but if I have to pick anyone it'll have to be Wellington," says Hape of the Maurice Trapp Group-sponsored Bay side who are the No 4 seeds at the Central Region Horowhenua 7s regional qualifying tournament.
The 20-year-old teacher aide at Mayfair School in Hastings is part of the campaign to help make the top four for the national sevens at Tauranga on December 15-16.
"The team does the work for you and you have to create something out of nothing," he says of his playmaking role.
The Ellery Wilson-coached Bay are in a pool with top seeds Wellington and No 5 Whanganui, after Poverty Bay withdrew.