14 May 2012

Cama caps off Sevens victory with top player honour

11:08 am on 14 May 2012

New Zealand's Tomasi Cama has been named the IRB Sevens player of the year.

Cama was honoured on the same day that the New Zealand rugby side won their 10th IRB series title in London.

The New Zealanders beat South Africa 36-0 in the quarterfinals of the final round in London to give them enough points to clinch the title ahead of Fiji, who won the final 38-15 against Samoa on Sunday.

New Zealand was beaten by Fiji 31-7 in the semifinals but went on to take the bronze final, demolishing Argentina 40-0.

Fijian-born Cama was nominated for the award for the second year in a row, having lost out to South Africa's Cecil Afrika last season.

Once again, he has been a key factor behind New Zealand's excellence and the creative spark behind their latest Sevens success.

Cama says it is just a reward for all the hard work from the boys - without them, it would have been impossible to receive the award.

The 31-year-old fought off stiff competition from teammate Frank Halai and England's Mat Turner to win the coveted individual accolade.

As well as finishing the season with 34 tries, Cama's impeccable drop-kicking helped him to 390 points for the season, the leading mark.

He also ends the season second in the all time point-scoring charts with 1627, behind only England's Ben Gollings.

Cama becomes the fourth New Zealand player to win the prize, following Orene Ai'i, Afeleke Pelenise and his captain DJ Forbes.

Tietjens inducted into Hall of Fame

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens has been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame and joins Sir Wilson Whineray, Sir Brian Lochore, David Gallaher, David Kirk and Jonah Lomu.

Tietjens started coaching the side in 1994, in which time 37 All Blacks have passed through his tough regime.

He has also won a Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2001 and all four Commonwealth Games gold medals contested to date.

The coach recently signed a contract extension that will see him lead the men's Sevens side to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro