The Chief Executive Officer of Lakapi Samoa, Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun says Manusina 7s did not participate in the Coral Coast 7s in Fiji because the team management wanted to camp in New Zealand and train with overseas-based players. 

Questions were raised as to why the women's national sevens team did not go to Fiji to compete the popular sevens competition which attracts top teams from the region.

"The focus has shifted towards a training camp in New Zealand, which allows overseas-based and on-island players to train and scrimmage together in preparation for the Cape Town Challenger Series," Seumanu said. 

"Additionally, many of our overseas-based players were unable to take leave to participate in the Coral Coast 7s, as they are conserving their leave entitlements for the Challenger Series in March. 

"This made the New Zealand camp a more practical and beneficial option for the team."

Manusina 7s has been training ever since their return from the Oceania 7s. They also trained during the festive season, if not as a team, they were given training tasks to do on their own time. They also camped at the High-Performance Unit in Tuanaimato.

However, they haven't been to any tournaments or any friendly matches with a team where they could play as a team. 

The Challenger Series is like the World Sevens Series. At the end of the circuit, four teams are allowed to play in the promotion-relegation tournament and get a chance to be part of the core team for the World Sevens Series. 

The same goes for the men's sevens team . They too have to compete in the Challenger series, and finish in the top four at the end of the Series to get a chance to play in the promotion-relegation series.

Manu Samoa 7s was relegated last year after finishing in the bottom four of the World Sevens Series and then losing all their matches in the promotion relegation tournament.