Rewita Biddle (Te Whakatōhea), is set to make his debut match for the All Blacks Sevens in Germany this weekend ahead of the next World Series.
Biddle, who attended St Peters School, Cambridge and played for the New Zealand Māori Under 18 in 2016 was a stand-out in the inaugural Red Bull Ignite7 programme in 2018.
Biddle was featured in the Bay Times when they covered Te Puna Rugby Football Club’s victory in the Farmlands Co-operative Baywide Men's tournament in the Bay of Plenty this year.
Biddle will join Canterbury’s Dan Fransen as they leave to play in The Oktoberfest Sevens Tournament which will feature seven of the top 8 ranked World Series teams set to clash in Munich this weekend.
The All Blacks Sevens season proper kicks-off in Dubai in December, but this will be the only pre-series tournament the current World Champions will play before then.
With regular squad members Joe Ravouvou, Joe Webber (both BoP) and Vilimoni Koroi (Otago) unavailable due to Mitre 10 Cup commitments, Biddle and Fransen will join an otherwise experienced squad featuring Tim Mikkelson, Regan Ware and Sione Molia.
Head Coach Clark Laidlaw will remain in New Zealand, which will see Assistant Coach Tomasi Cama lead the side to Germany
“We have had a number of new faces with us during pre-season and they have been working really hard” said Cama.
“Nothing beats game time though, so it’s a great opportunity for these guys to experience international sevens and at the same time it is great for us to develop depth in our programme”.
Cama said this pre-season tournament will be the perfect chance to test where the team is at before their first World Series tournament.
“Being able to play against the world’s best in a tournament like this is so valuable especially when we are going into such a big season”.
The squad travelling to Germany is: All Blacks Sevens team is:
Trael Joass
Tim Mikkelson
Tone Ng Shiu
Amanaki Nicole
Luke Masirewa
Dan Fransen*
Sam Dickson
Andrew Knewstubb
Regan Ware
Ngarohi McGarvey-Black
Rewita Biddle*
Sione Molia