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QUICK TAP: RUGBY WORLD CUP SEVENS 2018 PREVIEW

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Cama said the 2013 side had a lot of experience and also understood the value of being able to switch on and off to playing and relaxing.

While there were distractions in a place like San Francisco it was important to focus on putting the work in when training.

“In this group there are a lot of young players coming through and it is going to be another step up for us to perform but I’m pretty sure if we focus on us and nail the details of how we want to play I’m sure it will go well this week,” he said.

The World Cup was on a par with the Olympics in terms of importance but it was just like every other occasion when the All Blacks Sevens played and they went into it giving it their all to win.

“When you play for New Zealand other teams do lift their game because they are playing New Zealand and for us we just have to be smart and make sure we attack each game at a time and make sure we do have the right plan and what’s going to be best for us and make sure we look after our players. By the end of the tournament we want to make sure we are still there with a solid group,” he said.

Cama said the 2013 success had been important in his career because he had been at the 2009 World Cup in Dubai when New Zealand didn’t make the final and it had been a goal to make sure the team did well in 2013.

Cama said teams were growing nowadays, they were getting better and they were playing more tournaments.

Introducing the 24 team captains that will compete in the men’s Rugby World Cup Sevens ??

The #AllBlacks7s kick off their campaign against either Hong Kong or Russia at 3.31pm NZT this Saturday.#RWC7s pic.twitter.com/9PSm22euLu— All Blacks Sevens (@AllBlacks7s) July 19, 2018

Team member Regan Ware said the side had got all the touristy stuff out of the way earlier in the week and they were now getting down to detail and narrowing their plans ahead of the tournament start.

Much of the preparation was keeping a lid on the mental side of the game and not playing it too early. They would have a later start in the day on the first day as they wait to see which of Russia or Hong Kong won the right to play them.

“We’re just focusing on relaxing for as long as we can,” he said.

“The World Cup has been our goal this year. We’ve had a few goals and the Comm [Commonwealth] Games was one of them and the World Cup is definitely another one of them, probably our last of the year. We’re just focusing on our first game and hopefully we can get our tournament rolling from then onwards.”

Being a knockout tournament it was a case of giving it everything from the outset. There was only one chance and if you didn’t perform in the 14 minutes you were gone, he said.

“It’s all about the team that turns up on the day. You’ve got to start on the front foot right from the start.”

Having only 12 players in the side, compared to 14 for the HSBC World Series meant preparation was a little different but it was an adjustment they had to make. One way of dealing with that had been Cama putting his boots back on and running with the side.

Looking at the prospects for the tournament he said the knockout nature meant that any of the sides had a chance. New Zealand were attempting to go back-to-back while Fiji had a strong side but so also did South Africa, England and the United States.