According to the International Rugby Board, the reigning Sevens Champions Samoa will be without Sevens’ most capped (made the most appearances) player, Uale Mai. Mai, an important component of Samoa’s Sevens Championship run last year, has been offered a contract with Spain’s El Salvador club team.

“It’s a big loss. We are going to miss Uale’s experience, but we cannot hold on to him,” admitted Samoa head coach Stephen Betham.

Betham has replaced the superstar with Alatasi Tupou.

Kiwi’s Face Injuries Before Commonwealth Games

The New Zealand All Blacks Sevens team coaching staff are facing questions about injuries to many of the team’s star players that were selected

Otago’s Adam Thomson injured his MCL (media collateral ligament) in Dunedin’s recent 13-8 win over Otago, New Zealand Sevens captain D.J. Forbes has been recovering from a groin injury for the last two months, and Tomasi Cama injured his cheekbone last month.

On a more positive note, playmaker Hosea Gear decided that he has healed enough from a hamstring injury to play in the Sevens tournament during the upcoming Commonwealth Games in a couple of weeks. Time will tell if Gear has recovered enough to make an impact during the tournament.

Fiji Out Of Commonwealth Games

Despite still a part of the U.K. Commonwealth (although they are currently suspended from the Commonwealth), Fiji has been banned from the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the Rugby Sevens component of the games, in India as a result of the 2006 Fijian coup.  This is a damn shame because Fiji has always been one of the most exciting sevens teams in the world, and is considered a crowd favorite at the Commonwealth Games.

While I understand the need of the “Commonwealth” to suspend Fiji for the actions taken in the coup, I do hope that the Fijians are able to work their way back into the next Commonwealth Games – Sevens rugby is much more exciting when Fiji is taking part.