Niue to add Pacific flair to Wellington sevens
by Huw Turner
January 28, 2001

One of the Pacific's smallest nations is set to make its debut on the world sevens rugby stage, following the withdrawal of France from the upcoming Telecom 2GO International Sevens tournament.

Niue today confirmed its acceptance of an IRB invitation to attend the IRB World Sevens Series tournament in Wellington on 9-10 February. The invitation was made after France withdrew from the tournament because its clubs would not release their players to attend.

Tournament Director Nick Jordan said that although France's withdrawal was disappointing, Niue's inclusion was a welcome opportunity to enhance the Pacific flavour of the tournament.

"With a population of just 1,800 Niue is not exactly a rugby superpower, but they are a side that likes to play a free-flowing style of rugby commonly associated with other Pacific-based teams.

"One of the key reasons the IRB developed the World Sevens Series was to promote rugby and Niue's involvement is a perfect example of the Wellington tournament fulfilling this goal.

"Attending the tournament will in itself be a huge occasion for the Niueans and they are very keen to build on the form they showed in their international sevens debut in Rarotonga last year," he said.

Niue participated in their first ever IRB international tournament in September 2000 when they attended the World Cup Oceania Qualifying tournament in Rarotonga.

Niue will take France's place in Pool A with Canada, Tonga and New Zealand.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices