On December 7, as the Oceania Rugby 7’s kicks off in Honiara, Solomon Islands, newly appointed Cook Islands Rugby Sevens National Coach, Clive Nicholas will make his coaching debut on the international stage.

A well decorated coach with a winning streak which, includes 2024 Premiership titles in both the League and Union Men’s Premier competitions, a Gold medal at the Cook Island Games for rugby 7s as co-coach with former national coach Andrew Iroa, and also a Bronze medal at the 2023 Pacific Games.

Nicholas is looking to not only turn things around for Cook Islands rugby with a performance to be proud of but to also make a statement that Cook Islands is a nation on the rise.

Backed by a team of experts including friend and advisor Dr. Nick Gill, the Strength and Conditioning mastermind of the All Blacks,  Nicholas will test his sevens knowledge and team fitness levels against some of the most revered countries in the South pacific, who include Samoa, Australia and Fiji. 

Nicholas, known for his demands around fitness levels and commitment to training has been relentless with conditioning blocks and skills focussed drills while under fatigue.

“It’s so important that the players learn to stay calm in their thinking when under pressure or fatigued.  If you can’t pass accurately while under fatigue you will put pressure on the entire system which will probably see you lose ground or possession. And to do that, the players must be fit and also pushed to the edge of their limits,” Nicholas said.

The levels of training and accountability within the squad has noticeably ramped up this week with sessions heavily focussed on improving performances, measured by time and repeat efforts. 

He says it’s pleasing to see players show improvement in their individual times on the field and also in the gym.

Meanwhile, many of the players out of NZ have not been forthcoming with making themselves available. Some are unavailable due to work commitments, others have put their hand up to rep but after digging a little bit deeper we’ve found that they are not Cook Islanders and then there are the ones who just don’t want to rep our nation. So, in a first, NZ will not be represented in this team.

He says “Australia will be represented with a couple of quality players out of Brisbane who will join the team in the Solomon’s.”

The final squad will be announced in the next week or so.

The team will also have a fundraiser fun run around the island on Saturday morning to raise some much needed funds for the team.