New Zealand, England and Australia all targeting Dubai Sevens success

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  • Big weekend ahead (l-r): Australia's Cameron Clark, with HSBC Rugby Ambassadors Nathan Sharpe and Lewis Moody, and New Zealand captain DJ Forbes.

    The almighty All Blacks are looking to “sneak under the radar” at the Dubai Sevens and take advantage of the hype surrounding holders Fiji, according to captain DJ Forbes.

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    Reigning HSBC Sevens World Series champions New Zealand are the most feared and respected nation in rugby, usually taking top billing in any tournament they enter.

    For once, this will not be the case at 7he Sevens when the latest round of the nine-legged competition kicks off on Friday.

    Pacific Islanders Fiji and Samoa come to the Emirates in top form, the former taking the honours in a barnstorming final between them during the season-opening Gold Coast Sevens in October.

    Fiji also carry an extra aura after defeating South Africa 29-13 to claim the 2013 honours in the UAE.

    The All Blacks were thrashed 31-7 by England two months ago during the quarter-finals in Australia and were beaten semi-finalists in Dubai last year.

    “It will be something different to go into a tournament and have everyone else focusing on Fiji and Samoa, after being Gold Coast finalists,” said the 31-year-old flanker at a HSBC event to preview the Dubai Sevens.

    “If we can sneak in under the radar, that would be pretty cool.

    “Saying that, everyone knows that as soon as you see an All Blacks jersey coming onto the field they want to lift their game and spoil the party.

    “Straight off the bat, we need to get our World Series back on track. We have a pretty tough pool, and hopefully we can get through that.”

    Antipodean rivals Australia also got off to a poor start, flopping on home soil after being beaten 12-10 by South Africa at the quarter-final stage.

    Every result counts more than usual in the current World Series, with the top four at the season’s end qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Australia sit in seventh place after one event.

    Star back Cameron Clark, who was named in the IRB Team of the Year 2013-14, admitted his nation had “put a lot of importance” on climbing the standings in the Emirates.

    He said: “Dubai is very important for us. It is a bit of redemption for us and [chance] to get our series back on track. It is a very important season with the top four automatically qualifying for the Olympics.

    “We begin against Kenya, and they are big and powerful athletes. You never really know what to expect from them. They can beat any team on their day.”

    Australia have been drawn alongside in England in Pool C, with the clash between the two rivals at 20:31 bringing Friday’s pool-stage play to a high-profile ending.

    “We’ve had some great match-ups since I’ve been involved in sevens, it’s always a fierce game,” said England captain Tom Mitchell, who was the leading points scorer in the entire campaign last season.

    “You play teams over and over again in the Sevens Series, so it is a slightly different match up.

    “It’s always fierce though, you cannot take away from that.

    “It is six weeks since the Gold Coast, so the boys are itching to get out there and play some rugby again.”

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