11 Oct 2010

Hopes high for Samoan sevens side

12:13 pm on 11 October 2010

After a golden weekend in weightlifting Samoa still has one has one more great hope at the Commonwealth Games, with it's world champion sevens rugby team beginning their tournament on Monday.

The IRB world series champions play Papua New Guinea in their opening match and are coming off the back of a runners-up finish behind Australia in last weekend's Oceania Sevens tournament in Darwin.

Head Coach, Stephen Betham, admits there's a lot of expectation for his side to do well back home, but says any number of teams are capable of claiming the gold medal.

"It's a one off tournament and we know Australia and New Zealand are fielding very strong sides. I'm sure England and South Africa will be doing the same but sevens is a funny game and the ball can bounce anywhere on the day. At the moment we're aiming to try to secure a medal and if we get into those medal rounds we will see if we can go higher than what we expect to achieve."

Tonga play South Africa in the opening game of the tournament, while New Zealand's first match is against Canada.