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With the national n Strang

When I was playing, it took me four or five years to be any good. For Vili, it took one tournament. He’s an amazing talent.’ NEW ZEALAND SEVENS GREAT TOMASI CAMA ON VILIMONI KOROI

another year if that’s what happens.’’

Koroi is the first player to go through the progressions incoming coach Clark Laidlaw has laid out with NZ Rugby.

It’s about creating a plan for young players such as Koroi who aren’t quite ready, or proven, to play in Super Rugby, or perhaps the Mitre 10 Cup.

Sevens can be a good place to hone your skills, adding to your talents in the 15 man game.

Laidlaw spoke in January about proving his environment could develop players and gaining the trust of Super Rugby coaches.

The kicker is that when the Olympics comes around in 2020, these young players will want to come back to sevens, and Super Rugby teams will have the faith to allow and encourage it to happen.

New Zealand Rugby high performance sevens manager Tony Philp said, all going to plan, that is the path Koroi is headed on.

‘‘Everyone is aware that he’s a very talented rugby player and also, just as important, he’s a very good person,’’ Philp said of Koroi.

‘‘He has incredible ability to learn quickly and is motivated and driven to succeed, so he certainly has a big career in rugby.

‘‘The challenge really is, first year out of school, we need to give him the support and guidance to develop him to his potential, and work with our rugby family to make sure we get the best out of him.

‘‘We’ve got a very clear plan in place for Vili for the year, in line with Otago rugby, to ensure we give him every opportunity.’’

Given his age, and not wanting to risk burnout, Philp suggested Koroi could be rested from the last couple of World Series sevens tournaments as a result of that planning.

NZ Rugby wants to encourage him to get his studies under way in Dunedin, take a short break from worrying about rugby, and then turn his attention to Otago’s domestic campaign later in the year.

That’s all up for discussion, but shows how carefully Koroi will be managed in order to make sure he isn’t a young talent who burns out before he needs to.

It’s a process that should be watched with interest.

Should it work, expect Super Rugby sides to have more faith in the sevens programme, and more players such as Koroi to thrive on the world stage.