Frank Halai to feature in 2012 Carlton Sevens

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Published on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 02:09

Written by Dilshan Sirisena

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ThePapare.Com bringing you the latest news on the Rugby field is proud to announce that a reliable source has informed us that the North Western Blacks have contracted three All Black players for the upcoming 2012 Carlton Sevens second edition of the tournament.

The three players also include the upcoming young star Frank Halai. Born on 06th of March 1988 in Tonga Halai received his education from Wesley College. Frank first debuted for Waikato Club in 2010 in a game against the Counties Manukau. He is a powerful winger who made a significant impression at the 2011 sevens competition.

The 6.’5’, 105- kg winger currently leads the IRB Sevens series with 24 tries and that's after missing out some game time due to injury. Being part of the champion All Black team that clinched the cup in the 2012 HSBC Sevens, Halai has also been shortlisted for IRB Sevens player of the year alongside Tomasi Cama.

Everyone struggles to make one-on-one tackles on him, either being side-stepped, fended off or run over. Not only that but he is also a great defender, rarely missing tackles.

The final of the Wellington Sevens is yet another true display of Halai magic on the field. His heroic try in extra time against England, where he left behind a trail of English players booked them a ticket to the final.  To top it all off, for a big man he has outstanding breakaway speed. It may be sevens, but in any code of rugby, that kind of physical ability is bound to give you an edge.

Frank Halai will be appearing along with young Joe Webber and Ben Souness in this year’s edition of the Carlton Sevens for the North Western Blacks team. The club is co- owned by Johan Fernando and Rizly Illyas.

Tomasi Cama and Dan Norton among other heavyweights to feature in Carlton

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Published on Saturday, 05 May 2012 18:31

Written by Sankha DLT

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The Carlton sevens organising team headed by former national coach and Kiwi George Simpkin have outdone themselves this year bringing the best of the best to our local shores.

Tomasi Cama and Dan Norton are just a few of the high profile players who will be featured in this year’s event which is predicted to top all past events.

Tomasi Cama: New Zealand’s Seven’s sensation is the son of former Fiji sevens great Tomasi Cama Senior who played for Fiji in the 1980’s.  Like his Father before him, Tomasi processes all the Rugby Skills and Technical nous to become one of the greatest players in Sevens history.  Having made his Sevens debut in 2005, Tomasi currently sits as the 2nd highest all time points scorer in IRB Sevens World Series with 1479 points behind only Ben Gollings of England (2652).   He is no slouch in the try scoring department either with 110 tries placing him at 14 in the all time try scorers of the IRB Sevens World Series Tournament.

Tomasi is currently the Leading Try scorer in the 2011/12 circuit with 281 points which is a massive 90 points ahead of his closest rival Colin Gregor of Scotland (191).  He is also 4th in this seasons try scoring stakes with 25, five short of leading try scorer Dan Norton of England (33).

After finishing 3rd in the last World Series competition in Tokyo, Tomasi will be looking forward to display his play-making ability and match-winning skils in the final two tournaments to help New Zealand win the HSBC Sevens World Series.  Having played in over 40 tournaments there are only a few players in the New Zealand squad, or any team for that matter that travelled to every tournament in the World Series last year.  This provides Tomasi an invaluable experience to pass down to all the players in his Carlton 7’s Franchise the Uva Vipers, especially the young Sri Lankans that are still learning the ropes at Sevens Level.

Dane Norton: The Bristol-born speedster Dan Norton from England is arguably the fastest man on the IRB World Series circuit.  He has scored 81 tries in his international career and is currently the Leading try scorer in the 2011/12 Series with 33 Tries.  Dan’s Sevens’ success dates back to his triumphant debut in Wellington in February 2009 and he has shown an intuitive knack of popping up with a vital score.  The most memorable being the winning try in England’s success over New Zealand in the final of the 2009 London Sevens.  His blistering speed and prolific try-scoring form has made Dan Norton one of the most feared Seven’s players in the world.

Dan is a product of Hartpury College in Gloucester however he was previously educated at Brockworth Enterprise and began playing Rugby when he was eight years old at Spartans RFC.  Dan represented Gloucestershire U16 and U18, South West U18 and became a member of the England U20 Grand Slam winning side.  Before the 2009 HSBC Sevens World Series began in Dubai, Dan was the leading scorer in the Championship and promptly kicked off the HSBC tournament with a hat trick of tries against the United States.  It was a proud day for his two mentors, Father Aubrey and Hartpury Coach Allan Lewis, whom Dan says has improved his game and helped him to understand it more.

England Coach Ben Ryan is delighted that his star player has resisted attempts from the 15-man code to lure him back and Dan has helped England to the 4th place ranking in the IRB Seven World Series.  By his own personal admission, Dan would like to be England’s main talisman and lead the team to win in Glasgow, Scotland and Twickenham, England in the final two World Series competitions.

Following the completion of the World Series, Dan will arrive on our shores to compete in the 2012 Carlton 7’s Tournament.  The Central Kings will be delighted to have signed a player of Dan’s stature and this will make all the other Franchises stand up and take notice of the men from the Upcountry.

Try scoring machine Simon Hunt to appear for Eastern Eagles

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Published on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 18:17

Written by Shehan Sundaram

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English Try-scoring machine Simon Hunt began his career 11 years ago in 2001 when he made his England Sevens debut.

In that same year Simon was a member of the first ever Great Britain team at the 2001 World Games.  Simon was always a star on the rise as he represented England Students in 1999, 2000 and 2001 while studying at St Mary’s University in Teddington and also the London and England under 21’s.

Having played for the England Sevens team from 2000-02, Simon returned to the squad after a six year absence, participating in six HSBC Sevens World Series Tournaments.  His try-scoring aggregate is 37 tries in 15 tournaments, including three try hat tricks, against France, Fiji and Samoa, in the Dubai tournament in December 2010 and another three in Wellington and Las Vegas one year later.

Since then Simon has reclaimed a regular starting position within the side and played at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.  He has also represented the Barbarians and made regular appearances on the invitational sevens circuit, in particular for the Samurai International outfit.  Simon’s professionalism and experience will be an enormous asset for the Eastern Eagles who he will represent at the 2012 Carlton 7’s.

North Central Typhoons zero retentions this year

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Published on Saturday, 05 May 2012 17:55

Written by Sankha DLT

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With the Carlton Super Sevens tournament just weeks away the franchise owners together with their management teams are hard at work looking for the right mixture of players to wear their colours for the mega tournament.

Last year’s last placed team, the North Central Typhoons have not retained any of the players from the first edition for this year’s tournament including skipper Thanujaya Seneviratne. The Typhoons after the 2 legs of the 2011 tournament had an aggregate of only 18 points. The first edition champions Central Kings have retained two of their frontline players Mohomed Sheriff and Pubudu Kodagoda while Kings Skipper Fazil Marija was not picked due to non-availability.

The Uva Vipers are looking the most dangerous outfit having two All Blacks sevens legends in their team, current Kiwi skipper DJ Forbes and Tomasi Cama. The Vipers have opted to retain Sajith Saranga and Tharindu Chanaka who are yet to get approval from their club to play in the tournament.

Last year’s runner up team Southern Sharks have retained the services of national development squad skipper Dinusha Chathuranga and also have reserved their power-house expat Nalu Tuigamala.