Gordon Teitjens named his 30 player squad at the conclusion of the National Sevens in Queenstown at the weekend and despite winning the tournament for the second time in a row, Auckland had just three players named – Lolagi Visinia, Nathan Hughes and Charles Piutau.
Waikato and Taranaki each had 5 players named in the squad.
Here’s how the provincial split went
| Province | Players |
| Auckland | 3 |
| Bay of Plenty | 3 |
| Canterbury | 1 |
| Counties-Manukau | 2 |
| Manawatu | 1 |
| North Harbour | 3 |
| Northland | 1 |
| Otago | 3 |
| Taranaki | 5 |
| Tasman | 1 |
| Waikato | 5 |
| Wellington | 2 |
| 30 |
[Charles Piutau was not playing at the National Sevens but was in the New Zealand sevens team at the Australian, Dubai and South African legs of the IRB World Sevens Series before christmas]
So why aren’t there more Aucklanders?
Tom Iosefo plays for Samoa
Gordon Teitjens keeps selection thoughts to himself so it’s all speculation but there are a couple of points to note.
1. Four of the Auckland players aren’t available for New Zealand
- Tom Iosefo plays sevens for Samoa
Iosefo currently sits second on the try scoring table for the Word Sevens Series.
- Malakai Fekitoa is aligned with Tonga
The 2011 National Sevens player of the tournament has played for Tonga at age group level
- Tenina Sauileoge is aligned with Samoa
Player of the tournament at the Paradise Sevens on the Gold Coast in November, Sauileoge played for Samoa at the Junior World Cup in 2008.
[thanks to Stepper below for the correction] - Ben Lam is in the Blues wider training squad
Even though it’s not the full squad and he may not even get to suit up, it counts Lam out of svens contention.
2. Lack of consistent exposure
The Bay of Plenty Invitational Sevens is played the weekend prior to the Nationals in Queenstown. Coach Teitjens has always encouraged teams and players to turn out to both events.
As a coach, I want to see how players can back up on tournaments. We’ve got a five-day turnaround in the world series, so that gives me an idea.
Auckland chose not to be at the Bay tournament. The opportunity to perform in front of the national coach 2 weeks in a row was lost.
So the exposure opportunity was limited – right at the time when the squad was being finalised.
Also, apart from thrashing lowly ranked Mid Canterbury, Auckland had a slow start on Day #1 of the Nationals.
They lost to Manawatu 24-7 and only just got past Hawkes Bay 24-19 to make the quarter finals on Day#2.
Just speculation but Wayne Pivac and Auckland’s decision to bypass Mount Maunganui the week before AND the slow start to the Nationals may have cost some of his players the chance of representing New Zealand.
Tenina Sauileoge is also from Samoa, so isn’t available for selection either. I thought he was pretty sharp, he was in the Auckland team last season as well but didn’t get much game-time. He was the player of the tournament at the Paradise 7s in November with Auckland, so he’s got a bit of game.
One thing I like about the last two years with Auckland, is just the speed in all the backline positions; even the backline bench players have speed. Pivac has a good knack of selecting players and making it work. Last year, the Auckland backline was quite small, but they just had so much speed, it made up for their lack of strength. These players will probably be around next year as well, so I’m seeing a 3peat.
Thanks for that Stepper. I’ve updated the article.
The Auckland back line have electric pace. Malakai Fekitoa and Tom Iosefo are very dangerous from anywhere on the field.
I think there are 3 things could sustain Auckland’s sevens dominance
1. If the development of young talent continues like it has done (high schools, academy, Pacific Islands scouting);
2. They stick with that talent regardless of whether the guys are aligned with NZ or not
[at Super Rugby level Pacific Island players require a kind of dispensation];
3. Players continue to gain international exposure at overseas sevens competitions like those in Australia, Singapore and England.
A 3-peat is definitely on the cards!