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Waikato’s backrow-wing utility headlines All Blacks Sevens squad

Oli Mathis of Waikato races away for a try during the round four Bunnings Warehouse NPC match between Waikato and Northland at FMG Stadium Waikato, on September 04, 2024, in Hamilton, New Zealand. (Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

The All Blacks Sevens will usher in a new era from November 30 to December 1 when the 2024/25 HSBC SVNS Series gets underway in Dubai. Waikato’s backrow and wing utility Oli Mathis headlines a new-look 13-man squad which includes two other debutants.

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Leroy Carter, Moses Leo, Che Clarke, Tepaea Cook-Savage, Fehi Fineanganofo, Sam Dickson, Scott Curry and Tim Mikkelson have all bid farewell to the sevens’ black jersey, as confirmed by a video on New Zealand Sevens’ Instagram page last week.

But when one door closes, another opens. Three debutants have been named before the SVNS Series opener at The Sevens Stadium, with those being Mathis, North Harbour’s Sofai Maka and Joey Taumateine who was named the Counties Manukau Under-19s Player of the Year.

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There is a valuable mix of experience in this group too, with captain Dylan Collier, Joe Webber and Sione Molia all boasting more than 50 caps for the All Blacks Sevens. Collier led the team to Cup Final glory in Hong Kong China and Singapore last season.

Playmaker Andrew Knewstubb, Ngarohi McGarvey-Black, Tone Ng Shiu, Lewis Ormond, Brady Rush and Codemeru (Cody) Vai are the other squad members. New Zealand will be eager to start the season well after their quarter-final elimination at the Paris Olympic Games.

“As coaches it excites us to bring young people in and help with their growth. They have to learn fast, but that is all part of the excitement,” coach Tomasi Cama said in a statement.

“We had a training run against Hamilton Boys’ High School last year and that is where we first saw Oli. He went on to have a great season for Waikato, so we brought him in to train with us. He is eager to learn and loves sevens so we are excited with his speed and physicality, what he will bring to the team.

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“Sofai has the potential to become a great sevens player. We saw in the NPC he makes a lot of line breaks, scores a lot of tries; he understands the game well and with a few injuries in our midfield he gets his opportunity.

“We’ve talked a lot about connecting to our DNA. This team is about hard work, that will be the foundation that allows us to play a brand of rugby we all love; exciting, free playing, unstructured. That’s what we want to go out there to do.”

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The three debutants have all been earmarked as players for the future. With plenty of potential and promise, the trio will all look to make their mark when given the opportunity to wear the black jersey for the first time on the SVNS Series.

Mathis is a product out of Hamilton Boys’ High School who impressed with the New Zealand Schools team last year where he claimed the golden boot. The youngster debuted for Waikato in the NPC where he started the season at flanker but finished it on the right wing.

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Another one of the debutants, Maka, brings three seasons of NPC with him into the All Blacks Sevens environment. The De La Salle College graduated played one season with Auckland before making the move to North Harbour.

Taumateine is another player who has been heralded as a star on the rise. Having represented New Zealand Under-18s Sevens and New Zealand Men’s Development side inside the last year, the Wesley College is a player to watch on the SVNS Series.

Dubai gets underway from November 30 to December 1. Other stops on the SVNS Series will be in Cape Town, Perth, Vancouver, Hong Kong China, Singapore and Los Angeles.

All Blacks Sevens team

Dylan Collier (c)

Jayden Keelan

Andrew Knewstubb

Oli Mathis (debut)

Sofai Maka (debut)

Ngarohi McGarvey-Black

Sione Molia

Tone Ng Shiu

Lewis Ormond

Brady Rush

Joey Taumateine (debut)

Codemeru Vai

Joe Webber

Unavailable due to injury: Regan Ware, Amanaki Nicole, Kitiona Vai, Roderick Solo, Akuila Rokolisoa, Xavier Tito-Harris

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DrinkAwayTheConcussion 110 days ago

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Mzilikazi 35 minutes ago
How Dupont-less France tossed a grenade into Ireland's Grand Slam celebrations

This performance from Ireland does not surprise me. Go back to the Emgland game last year, and the way Ireland played there. Some poor defence, especially at the death, allowing the Smith drop goal, which was from an virtually .unmissable position.


Then the AB loss in the autumn, when Ireland played as poorly as I have seen this current group play. I agree with you, Nick, when you cite the falloff in attacking/try scoring ability which started with the Lancaster / Nienaber transition.


The loss of injured players is also a factor, but I would only mention it in passing, not overplay that one. After all, France were missing their first choice centre pairing.


The Prendergast v Crowley debate. I have been in the “Crowley to start” camp from the get go, and for this game specially, I feel that strategically Crowley should have started. The Munster man just has that bit more to his game, that bit more toughness and variation. I would suspect the French coaching group were delighted to be looking at how they played the Irish staring 10 for this game.


Prendergast is a supreme passer of the ball, and ultra cool and balanced, probably the better goal kicker. But in that first half(as far as I have got in the game so far), he was caught twice in possession, once really bulldozed back by the French forwards. In addition, he made some poor kicking choices, and only once took the line on. He was too easy to read, never a line breaking threat. I have read he played out the full 80 at 10. That leaves me seething. The Irish coaching group repeating the mistake made in the RWC QF in France, with Crowley again not used to advantage.

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SK 1 hour ago
How Dupont-less France tossed a grenade into Ireland's Grand Slam celebrations

I think France have made really good improvements. They have found several players on the bench and in the wider squad who are able to now operate at the level of their starters, they have power and devastation on the bench and can change the game. Their gameplan has also evolved and they are able to stay in the fight for longer. Fitness and conditioning seems to have become primary work ons. They have worked massively on breakdown where they forced so many turnovers and always slowed down Irelands ball. How many times did you see a French hand on the ball fighting the first and second cleaner tooth and nail for access before being shoved off of it? They become like a pack of rabid dogs on turnover and transitions, they counter so much better now and you can see elements of the Bordeaux and Toulouse game written all over the team. Its almost like a swarm when they counter. They have great alignment between the Top 14 and the national team and they have a group of players who are well versed in playing this style. You could see clearly in this game why both Galthie and Erasmus now fancy a 7-1 stack against Ireland. It is by and large to overpower them and demolish their breakdown. Irelands attack has devolved. Its now more metronomic than creative. It involves phase after phase of attritional attack and hordes of possession but it lacks creativity and purpose after the second or third phase. The Ireland attack of old kept teams guessing. You didnt know if they were gonna go wide or close in, you had to worry about the offload, the inside pass, the blindside and the hooker on the wing. Now it seems like they move the ball side to side while patiently waiting for the dam wall to break. They also lack pace and bite in the outside channels without Hansen and Lowe. Nash and Osborne were not on it and they struggled to contain the outside French backs who were incredible. France had more leaders that stood up, more grit and more power and it all proved too much for Ireland to handle.

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