Curtis looking forward to playing home tournament this weekend

Above: Ambrose Curtis tracking back as Ories teammate Ardie Savea makes the tackle on Northern United's Peato Lafale in a Jubilee Cup match at Porirua Park in 2012.

Sheer speed and raw-boned physicality. That’s what caught our eye when we first saw New Zealand Sevens player Ambrose Curtis in full flight on Wellington club rugby’s season opener Gala Day in 2011. On a rock hard Trentham Memorial Park, Curtis scored twice against Avalon, including once from a bustling line break and an 80-metre sprint to the try line that was a highlight of the match.

It was these attributes that caught the attention of the New Zealand Sevens master coach Sir Gordon Tietjens when Curtis was part of the New Zealand U20 team in mid-2012. He was called into the All Black Sevens training camp in November 2012 but unfortunately injured his shoulder, the injury requiring surgery and keeping him sidelined for the entire 2013 club season for Ories.

Curtis bided his time and returned to play for the Wellington Lions, part of their squad that topped the table and made it to the ITM Cup final against Canterbury. Almost a year on from his initial introduction he was then selected in the All Blacks Sevens training camp ahead of this IRB World Sevens series season and has so far played in all four tournaments on the Gold Coast, Port Elizabeth, Dubai and Las Vegas.

He scored two tries in the final in his debut tournament as New Zealand beat home side Australia 40-19, and he has scored 12 tries in all four tournaments to date.

Needless to say he’s excited to be playing in front of his home crowd at Westpac Stadium this Friday and Saturday.

“I’m really looking forward to playing at home and I’m blessed that I’ve got the opportunity to be selected to play in Wellington,” said Curtis. “Playing in my home town is definitely an extra bonus for me, and my family and friends are all excited to see me play live in front of them for the national team.”

A tournament win in Wellington would see New Zealand move to the top of the standings at the halfway mark of the Sevens World Series, but Curtis explained that if there’s one thing that is a certainty from the four tournaments he’s been involved with so far it’s the competitiveness of all the teams and unpredictability of results.

“No one can take anyone lightly, but going on form this year, the South Africans are leading the table and defeated us in the finals of the last two tournaments and are probably the team to beat.? But you never know, there are teams like Fiji, Samoa and England who all have a good history in Wellington.”

Curtis also said there’s been some talk about New Zealand’s loss to Kenya in the semi-finals of last year’s tournament, but the squad is focusing on the here and now and their own form.

Curtis is one of three Wellington players in the 12-man squad for this year, joining Ories club team-mate Lote Raikabula and former Tawa wing George Tilsley (now based in the Manawatu).

Not bad company for Curtis, who didn’t make the Wellington College First XV in his final year of school in 2009, a school first fifteen that was captained by Lima Sopoaga and included other Super Rugby players Reggie Goodes and Solomona Sakalia and several current Premier Wellington club players.

“In my final year of school I played in the Second XV. Basketball was my main sport at school because I co-captained the Wellington College Senior A team, and I also played softball in the summer.”

In fact, 11 out of 33 of Wellington College’s [fifteens rugby] All Blacks, including the great Ken Gray in the 1960s, didn’t make the First XV. Similarly, 44-game Hurricanes wing and former Samoan Test flyer Lome Fa’atau is another player that played basketball ahead of rugby in school at St Pat’s Town in the early 1990s.

After finishing school Curtis joined Ories, the club he played for as a junior and where many of his old friends such as the Savea brothers went to.

He quickly impressed at the Polo Ground, scoring six tries in his first seven Jubilee Cup matches in 2010 before going on to be the leading top try scorer in the 2011 Swindale Shield with seven tries and scoring 68 points in the 2011 Jubilee Cup and helping Ories win their first club rugby championship for 100 years.

He then made the New Zealand U20 side for the World Championships in 2012 and played in his second successive Jubilee Cup final.

It was then that the opportunity to play Sevens rugby opened up for him.“I had played a couple of club Sevens tournaments, but I didn’t really play much Sevens though, because of my fifteens and Ories club commitments, but I always enjoyed the space and how much time you get with the ball, so it was quite appealing to me to give it a go and I am lucky to get to where I am now.”

IRB Wellington Sevens this weekend key details

The All Black Sevens team to compete in this week’s IRB Sevens in Wellington is:

Tomasi Cama, Scott Curry, Ambrose Curtis, DJ Forbes (c), Bryce Heem, Gillies Kaka, Akira Ioane, Ben Lam, Tim Mikkelson, Lote Raikabula, Sherwin Stowers, George Tilsley.

Pools:

• Pool A: South Africa, England, Wales, Portugal
• Pool B: New Zealand, France, Fiji, Spain
• Pool C: Canada, Argentina, Scotland, USA
• Pool D: Samoa, Australia, Kenya, Tonga

New Zealand’s Day One Draw:

• 3.06 pm: New Zealand v Fiji
• 5.54 pm: New Zealand v Spain
• 9.56 pm: New Zealand v France

Current points after four rounds of nine of the Sevens World Series (top 10):

South Africa 78; New Zealand 77; Fiji 56; England 53; Samoa 47; Australia 46; Argentina 43; Kenya 39; France 33; Wales 32.

World Sevens Series tournament results and schedules:

• 12-13 October Gold Coast, Australia. Cup final result: New Zealand 40 – Australia 19
• 29-30 November Dubai. Cup final result: Fiji 29 – South Africa 17
• 7-8 December Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Cup final result: South Africa 17 – New Zealand 14
• 24-26 January Las Vegas, USA. Cup final result: South Africa 14 – New Zealand 7
• 7-8 February Wellington, New Zealand.
• 22-23 March Tokyo, Japan.
• 28-30 March Hong Kong
• 3-4 May Glasgow, Scotland
• 10-11 May London, England

Series top try scorers after the opening four tournaments:

Samisoni Viriviri (Fiji) 20; Benito Masilevu (Fiji) 18; Julien Candelon (France) 17; Shannon Walker (Australia) 17; Tim Mikkelson (New Zealand) 16; Diego Palma (Argentina) 15; James Davies (Wales) 14; Tom Mitchell (England) 14; Ambrose Curtis (New Zealand) 12; six others on 12 tries.

Series top point scorers after the opening four tournaments:

Tom Mitchell (England) 156; Tomasi Cama (New Zealand) 116; Emosi Mulevoro (Fiji) 105; Samisoni Viviviri (Fiji) 100; Philip Mack (Canada) 99?? ?