Fijian three make NZ 7S for Aust,HK March 13, 2010
New Zealand Sevens Coach Gordon Tietjens has retained Fiji-born players in Tomasi Cama, Lote Raikabula and Savenaca Toakula in his 12-man squad for the Adelaide leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.
Waikato's Tokula will travel with the team after successfully appealing a six-match ban he received at the Las Vegas tournament.
On appeal the ban was reduced to four matches, meaning he will miss only the first two pool games in Adelaide as he already missed the side's final two games at the USA Sevens.
Cama and Raikabula on the other hand have been veteran New Zealand sevens rugby campaigners and have been the main stay in the DJ Forbes captained side.
While the three Fijians have been retained, speedster Sherwin Stowers did not make the 12 member team and has been replaced by Toby Arnold- the one change since the USA Sevens in Las Vegas.
Significantly, Bay of Plenty player Arnold takes the place of the kiwis' injured top try-scorer this season, Stowers, who is ruled out with an ankle concern.
Bay of Plenty's Solomon King was also unavailable for selection due to injury.
Depsite the loss of Stowers, coach Tietjens remains positive and is confident that preparations for Adelaide have gone well.eplaced by
"We had a great start to the season but the team were disappointed with their performances in the last two tournaments and we know we need to play at a higher level and improve our accuracy to be successful in Adelaide and Hong Kong," added Tietjens.
New Zealand currently lead the IRB Sevens World Series by 14 points from Samoa but the Adelaide and 24-team Hong Kong tournaments could be crucial to deciding the Series' outcome.
Following the Adelaide tournament on 19-21 March the teams will travel to Hong Kong for the sixth leg of the IRB Sevens World Series on 26-28 March.
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