Getting All Blacks stars Sonny Bill Williams and Liam Messam up to speed will be a priority as the New Zealand sevens team look to get their disastrous World Series campaign back on track in Wellington next month.
New Zealand coach Sir Gordon Tietjens is calling for calm, and is hopeful his team could spend the next month getting over the injury curse that has derailed the start of their latest campaign.
After finishing a disappointing fourth in the series opener in Dubai last week, New Zealand performed even worse in the follow-up tournament in Cape Town.
They lost to Canada in pool play, were beaten 22-19 by Argentina in the Cup quarterfinals and then lost the Plate semifinal 28-14 to the United States, their third loss to the Americans in two tournaments.
SBW and former sevens star Messam will be in the mix for Wellington, along with fellow 15s star Ardie Savea.
Those three have joined the sevens squad with an eye to making Rio 2016.
An Olympic medal looks a long way off for a New Zealand side that has set the standard in the game for so long, but is being swamped by an increasingly competitive field.
Source: stuff.co.nz
