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The Arabian Gulf Sevens Squad are relishing the prospect of getting a taste of quality international opposition ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup Sevens when they set out to take part in the New Zealand Marist Sevens rugby tournament, said the Khaleej Times.

The competition in Wellington will be the Gulf’s final opportunity to compete overseas before returning home to play hosts for the World Cup in March. As part of the trip, the team will incorporate a stop over in Kuala Lumpur to participate in friendly matches set up by the Malaysian RFU.

“This trip will be a great opportunity for the players and coaching staff to measure ourselves against these tough competitors,” said Jonathon Brookes, Tour Manager for the team.

The squad will include three new faces Brett Williams and Luke Sinclair from the Dubai Exiles and Byron Kremer, of South African origin, who is a late replacement for the injured Adrian Kerr. Experienced campaigner Stephen Cooper takes the rein as captain.

“We are going about it the right way. The matches against Malaysia and Singapore will help ease us out because we have not played for the past two weeks. It is an ideal warm up against lesser physical opposition though Malaysia has improved by leaps and bounds having Fijians in their side. It will be a productive tour,” said Cooper

“The tournament will give us an opportunity to play against more physical opposition which we are likely to encounter in the World Cup. There will definitely be tough quality opposition with Hong Kong having won the tournament last year and will be there to defend it. But we are going there with the aim of winning,” said Cooper.

As part of the trip, the Gulf team will also be hoping to get in some training time with the South African team, who will be in Wellington.

“The training with the South Africans will give us the chance to sit down and analyse what we’ve been doing right and what we’ve being doing wrong,” added Cooper.

Arabian Gulf Tour Squad: Steve Cooper (Captain), Chris Gregory, Josh Sherrin, Dave Clark, Jonny MacDonald, Corey Oliver, Stuart Gibb, Sean Hurley, Francois Coetzer, Gerry Considine, Taif Al Delamie, Luke Sinclair, Byron Kremer, Brett Williams, Dan Patching, Marcus Smith; Coach: Mike Lunjevich, Asst Coach: Charlie Keenan, Manager: Jonathan Brookes, Physio: Lacey Congram, Referee; Scott Herbert