A youthful back-line will look to spark the Tasman team to its highest ever finish at this weekend’s Pub Charity National Sevens Championship in the absence of star player Tevita Koloamatangi.
Speaking just days before the Queenstown tournament, Tasman captain Shawn Begg highlighted the impact that his team-mate’s loss would have on the Mike Kerrisk-coached side, but says the team is still confident it can beat South Canterbury and one of either Wellington or Auckland to progress into the next phase of the competition.
“If we can get ourselves into the top draw for the second day then anything can happen,” says the former Tasman Makos halfback. “We’ve got quite a young team mixed with a bit of experience so we’re pretty excited. Tevita is a massive loss to us, he’ll be hard to replace.”
The news that vice-captain Dan Hyatt would also miss the trip south means Tasman will only carry three forwards, those coming in the form of Tasman Mako Vern Fredericks, Tasman Under-20 flanker Dan Hytongue and former Nelson College first XV flanker Daniel Baxter. But Shawn believes the key strength will be the young back-line, with speedsters Ryan Setephano, James Lowe, Mitchell Scott and Kim Bateman likely to see plenty of game time. Sione Holani, Kaide Whiting, Trael Joass and Fletcher Matthews make up the rest of the squad. With one more year left at Waimea College, Fletcher will be one of the youngest players to feature at the tournament. “Our strength is our back-line but we should be quite a fit team down there too. Being young and having nothing to lose and without many other teams seeing us play, the other teams won’t know what to expect from us.”
Shawn will also act as a co-coach for the Tasman women’s team alongside Cyril Collier. The women have added some new faces to their squad since surprising Otago at the southern zone qualifying tournament in Timaru late last year to qualify for Queenstown, but Shawn admits it will be a big step up, as it is the first time the side has ever played at a national tournament. “No one thought we would even qualify, but they deserve to be there. I think they’re capable of mixing it with the North Island teams. They could knock a few teams over and they’ll be right in there.”
Both men’s and women’s tournaments will be broadcast like on Sky Sport 1 with the first match kicking off at 10:30am on Saturday January 12.
