Southland sent arguably its strongest ever lineup to the national provincial sevens tournament in Tauranga at the weekend with hope to push past last year's top eight finish. The oddsmakers favoured a Southland win and Southland again started well through the likes of captain Leigh Bristowe and Kooman to hold a 7-5 lead at the halftime break. The loss put a line through Southland's Cup title hopes, although the tournament was not over completely for Southland. He developed a potent combination with Kooman and both are now attracting interest from the national sevens selectors, as has Josh Moorby. Soon after Southland's 2019 campaign came to an end on Sunday Cavanagh was already looking excitedly at 2020 given the progress of various players.

Source: Stuff December 15, 2019 04:07 UTC