All Blacks Sevens superstar Gillies Kaka passed a fitness test on Wednesday and will be back in the fray this weekend in a rejuvenated team bidding to put the memory of their worst finish in this season’s IRB Sevens World Series – fourth place at the Tokyo Sevens – behind them. “Gillies is okay and that is good for the team. We missed him last week after he got injured in our very first game against Wales,” said a relieved New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens. Tietjens kept a close eye on Kaka as he was put through his paces alone once the rest of the squad completed a training session at So Kon Po. Kaka, 23, is one of a rare breed of players from New Zealand – a sevens specialist. While most other up-and-coming youngsters covet a place in the All Blacks side, Kaka has thrown his lot in with sevens ahead of the 2016 Olympics. He is one of an unprecedented eight sevens players who were awarded full-time contracts last year by the New Zealand Rugby Union. Top players are on contracts worth almost HK$800,000 a year. The aim of sevens supremo Tietjens is to have a squad of around 20 full-time players by the time the Rio Olympics roll around. Kaka is in the first wave. “He is a key player. If he wasn’t fit, we might have even flown in Tomasi Cama [who is recovering from an injury back home],” said a smiling Tietjens. “But it is crucial to have a core of experienced players for Hong Kong and Kaka falls into that bracket, having played in Hong Kong before.” fijione.tv/13971/
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 08:45:12 +0000
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