Titch eyes Dubai win as SA, Eng changes

All Blacks 7s coach Gordon Tietjens did not mince his word when he said they want to win the Dubai tournament again.

Speaking to irb.com, the IRB Hall of Famer said the Dubai climate is one they liked playing in.

“Dubai is my favourite tournament out of all of them. It’s a great tournament to win," he said.

And after the disappointment of losing to Fiji in Skilled Park a month ago, Tietjens made it clear he would add firepower to his squad to make up for the Gold Coast loss with the Dubai title.

Living up to his word, Titch had called up Kurt Baker and Sherwin Stowers to his 22-member training squad who are without Super Rugby contracts.

He had also experienced core of players - captain DJ Forbes, Tomasi Cama, Tim Mikkelson and Lote Raikabula along with Auckland wing Ben Lam.
 
Meanwhile, England, South Africa have ring the changes to their squads for the second leg of the 2012/2013 HSBC 7s Series in Dubai and South Africa.

England coach Ben Ryan has recalled former captain and IRB 7s Player of the Year Ollie Phillips to his squad in a bid to defend their Dubai 7s title.

His South African counterpart, Paul Treu, has made three changes to his squad with the omission of Cecil Afrika making the headlines.

Afrika was not considered for selection after failing to recover from a niggling knee injury he sustained at the season-opening Gold Coast Sevens.

He is replaced by debutant Kevin Luiters, the promising 20-year old Toyota Free State Cheetahs scrum-half.

The 2-day Dubai 7s will start at 6.06pm on 30 November (Fiji Time). The following week the teams will travel to South Africa to play the Cell C Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth on 8-9 December.

Dubai Pools:
Pool A: Fiji, Kenya, Spain, Scotlamd
Pool B: NZ, Argentina, Wales, Russia
Pool C: SA, Samoa, England, Portugal
Pool D: France, Aust, Canada, USA

Springbok 7s squad: Chris Dry, Philip Snyman, Frankie Horne, Warren Whiteley (MTN Golden Lions), Cornal Hendricks, Kyle Brown (c), Branco du Preez, Stephan Dippenaar, Paul Delport, Kevin Luiters (Toyota Free State Cheetahs), Tshotsho Mbovane, Steven Hunt

England squad: Dan Bibby, Chris Brightwell, James Lightfoot-Brown, Ollie Marchon (Old Albanians), Tom Mitchell, Dan Norton, Ollie Phillips, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Rob Vickerman (captain), Marcus Watson, Jeff Williams

NZ training squad: Kurt Baker, Tomasi Cama, Scott Curry, Ambrose Curtis, Sam Dickson, Tony Ensor, Gareth Evans, DJ Forbes, Iopu Iopu, Gillies Kaka, Milford Keresoma, Warwick Lahmert, Ben Lam, Luke Masirewa, Tim Mikkelson, Kylem O'Donnell, Lote Raikabula, David Raikuna, Sherwin Stowers, Tutu Tairea, Belgium Tuatagaloa, William Whetton.

FijiLive