The NZRU has been hard at work enticing some of the best stars not just in rugby union but rugby league to sign on with the union and feature for the New Zealand Sevens team at the 2016 Rio games.
While the current New Zealand Sevens team led by DJ Forbes is pretty good as it is, with an Olympic gold medal at stake, the NZRU realizes that it must get the best players it can get to strengthen its bid to achieve gold in Rio in 3 years time.
Hence, it is stretching out even to the rival NRL to find players who will be brilliant at Sevens rugby - Benji Marshall and Shaun Johnson have been targeted along with its former charge Sonny Bill Williams.
But what are your thoughts on the ideal New Zealand Sevens team to win gold in Rio in 2016?
Here's mine -
1.DJ Forbes
2.Liam Messam
3.Sonny Bill Williams
4.Benji Marshall
5.Hosea Gear
6.Julian Savea
7.Cory Jane
Subs
8.Tanerau Latimer
9.Fritz Lee
10.Tomasi Cama
11.Tim Mikkelson
12.Charles Piutau
You can't have a New Zealand Sevens team without Lote Raikabula. Hosea Gear might still be in France so that rules him out. And Tanerau Latimer and Fritz Lee isn't as explosive as he used to be for a Sevens player. Shaun Johnson is far too good to leave out, an a possible return by Adam Thomson could be inevitable. A possible team could be:
ReplyDelete1 - Ardie Savea
2 - DJ Forbes (c)
3 - Brad Shields
4 - Tomasi Cama (vc)
5 - Benji Marshall
6 - Sonny Bill Williams
7 - Ben Smith
8 - Liam Messam
9 - Adam Thomson
10 - Shaun Johnson
11 - Lote Raikabula
12 - Frank Halai