o be part of the back--to--back hsbc sevens world series champions is an honour for james murphy, from wynberg and has been extremely humbling. he trained in the sa academy side for about three months, joining the squad postdubai 2017 and the south america tour early in january 2018. “i was training with the academy side and my experience was based on provincial 7s, varsity 7s and then my biggest contributor was representing the samurais in an international tournament at the end of 2017. when i heard coach marius call out my name as he announced the travelling team to hong kong, i got the largest shot of adrenaline, but at the same time, relief. all my hard work and extra hours of training had all paid off and the opportunity i had been dreaming of for years was finally before me. as you know, we made history by winning the bronze medal after we were written off before our departure to hong kong, while the senior players were all in action at the commonwealth games in australia,” murphy says. the advice marius gave to “his” team (the academy team) was that this was an opportunity for them, this was their chance and it was theirs to take. “when he announced the team he said nobody knows any of you, but trust the system and express yourselves and when you get on that plane on monday to come home, everyone will know your names. that is exactly what happened and the world took notice of what we can do when we were not fazed by big names from fiji, england, france, australia or new zealand. when we returned, we received a lot more positive responses. to hear from players with over 60 caps, ‘well done, you did seriously well, keep it up’, are the type of words i hold close to my heart. in terms of game criticism, the only criticism i listen to is the coaches. after hong kong, i had positive feedback, which i took into my training and team culture contributions,” murphy says. with the dubai sevens looming, he does not know how the selections are looking.