I would like to offer my congratulations on reaching the 35 year mark.

I remember the first year where Amene Rangi and George George were talking after the tournament final about how they were going to keep the tournament growing into the future.

Obviously what they and the many organisers have done over the years since then, has worked.

I know Ben Koteka played that first year and to see him still involved with running the tournament speaks volumes.

It was a real pleasure to play in the tournament and come back a few years later to coach and more years later to watch.

I have seen some great names play over the years starting with Henry Amosa, Peter Woods, Jonah Lomu and Waisale Serevi in the initial tournaments all those years ago.

 There have been many All Blacks, Fijian, Tongan and Samoan internationals grace the field at the Stadium since then and all of them have a love for the tournament the island and the people involved.

I have also seen how the tournament has grown the local talent.

Many great players over the years.

Amazing talent for such a small place.

You can see this in the NPC in NZ and the NRL in Australia. Hopefully the CI Sevens has been a small part of encouraging the local youngsters to strive for those heights.

I wish you all the best for the weekend and only wish I could have been there. I’m not sure when, but I will be back one day watching from the stands with George George and listening to him talk about how he could have done it better!