BY New Zealand's high standards, the past couple of years at the Hong Kong Sevens have been a big disappointment.
Blown away by Fiji in the rain-swept 1992 final, the All Blacks failed to reach the final last year when they went down to a Lolani Koko-inspired Western Samoa in the semi-final.
One of the big plusses for the All Blacks from those two tournaments, however, was the emergence of Glen Osborne, nephew of the famous New Zealand All Black second five-eighth, Bill Osborne.
Bill Osborne made a name for himself in the mid-1970s as a hard-tackling, straight-running inside centre with terrific ball skills and an astute tactical brain.
Although Glen, from Wanganui, has yet to reach the heights of his uncle, he is establishing himself as one of the most exciting and accomplished sevens players in the world.
Who can forget his one-handed pick-up, without breaking stride, in atrocious conditions at that watery 1992 Sevens, or his ability to surge through a gap in the opponents' defence and accelerate to the line? In an All Black squad featuring six new players, Osborne's skill and the fact that he is a tried hand on the Sevens course makes him a marked man in the eyes of opponents - but that's a problem he is looking forward to facing.
''That is a thing you have to cope with and it will be better for the team if I'm a marked man,'' said Osborne, the 22-year-old North Harbour full-back.