New Zealand will be present in the 2024 edition

The New Zealand women's and men's teams visited the US Tours Rugby School on Wednesday afternoon at Tonnellé Stadium. It was a great opportunity to meet All Black Sevens and Black Ferns Sevens staff, having willingly agreed to take selfies and play games together.

For the first time, and this is a historic one, the Howard Hinton Sevens have signed an agreement with the New Zealand Rugby Union. This means that there will be real choices of “blacks” who will be judged in HH'7 this weekend.

Players who “qualify” for Paris 2024

Coach Rodney Gibbs, a former Bay of Plenty player and coach of the same club as Howard Hinton, explains: “We have six players under contract with the federation. Therefore, they are supervised during the tournament and qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, and six other young players are subject to a training principle, usually called “development.” »

The Blacks Sevens team will be placed in the elite group as guests of the tournament. This complex will also be the first stage of the French Rugby Sevens Championship, the highest level of the game, so the current French champions, Union Bordeaux-Bègles, and the best French teams will be able to compete in record-breaking form against the best in the world. world. A few of the Black Sevens squad wore the first team jersey regularly, such as Ngarohi McGarvey-Black or the often recalled Louis Ormond.

The Sevens Ferns face Australia and Ireland

The New Zealand women are thrilled with how they will compete against Ireland and Australia, top rivals from the southern hemisphere. Under World Rugby rules, these three teams will play each other three times in three days, allowing everyone to see them, no matter what day they visit HH'7. Assistant coach Christina Su says: “All options are good for us because our group needs to play a lot and often before going to Madrid and Hagenau. »

Like the boys, there are five girls under federal contract and another five in “development” discipline. A few players are also coming back from injury and will come to find their rhythm. Here again, fans of the Sevens will recognize some players who have participated in high-level international matches, such as Terina Te Tamaki or Des Vallevaja, whom the Tours ladies had the honor of meeting during training.

These two very high-profile selections will therefore take to the lawns of the Vallée du Cher and provide the expectant crowd with a first-class show.

From Friday, May 24 to Sunday, May 26, at the Vallée du Cher.