The Tongan sevens team was scouting in Auckland ahead of the team’s return to the Sevens World Series for three tournaments next year.
One News reports that coaches are trying to unearth some young talent at an open trial before they compete in the Hamilton, Sydney and the Hong Kong legs.
The trialists were a mixture of players from provincial level, club rugby, those straight out of school and rugby league, including some who had spent time at the Warriors.
Former All Black and 15s assistant coach Pita Alatini hopes some of that talent can flow through to the 15 a‑side team.
Alatini says that obviously, they have come off a very good program and results at the Oceania Sevens, where Tonga finished fifth, so they have pushed out a couple more tournaments which is great for the programme and seeing the interest in these kids all coming out and wanting to play for Tonga is fantastic.
The programme has set the long‑term goal of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris with Alatani saying it is up to Tongan rugby to provide the young talent with a professional environment.
Tonga is pooled with USA, England and Samoa in the Hamilton 7's.
[Source: One News]
