Tasman sevens sides off to nationals

The Tasman Men’s sevens side has backed up its team of the year status as they completed a three peat at the regional qualifiers.
Tasman went through the Timaru tournament unbeaten to claim the Tofa Shield for the third year in a row and book its spot in the nationals.
Fresh off leading Stoke to a Motueka Sevens title, the dynamic Sam Chamberlain led the side to victory over southern rivals Otago, Southland, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and Canterbury.
Sam says they went there to win it and remain undefeated.
“We did that and are extremely happy as a group to achieve that goal and make it three in a row.”
He credits coach Sam Gibbens for creating a quality team culture with a lot of new faces in the squad.
“We had 12 players who could all do a job.”
Sam says Central’s Timoci Tavatavanawai (Jimmy) was outstanding all tournament while Jesse Pitman’s experience was invaluable. He says Stein Schreiber, in his first tournament, was another standout. Leading from the front, Sam dotted down four times at the weekend to lead the try scoring charts with Timoci and Te Puoho Stephens.
The side enjoyed comfortable wins over South and Mid Canterbury, while also dispatching Southland before meeting Canterbury.
“It was a see-saw affair, they came back and the boys had to show a lot to get up, we scored early and then they put us on the back foot a bit and starved us of possession.
Tasman held on for a 19-10 win.
“We got back in it and got the job done, it’s always good to beat Canterbury.”
Tasman then met Otago in its final game.
“We still had to beat Otago to win it outright, so it was effectively like a final.”
Tasman took the win 36-10.
The side now switches focus to the nationals in Tauranga this weekend.