All Blacks Sevens squad for Sevens Wellington and USA Sevens named

Jan 28 • General News, International, Sevens Rugby, Sevens World Series, World Rugby • 1707 Views • Comments Off on All Blacks Sevens squad for Sevens Wellington and USA Sevens named

The All Blacks Sevens squad to prepare for the next two tournaments of the HSBC Sevens World SeriesSevens Wellington (6-7 February) and USA Sevens in Las Vegas (13-15 February) features four new players. The team will be named on Monday 2 February.

The squad is:

Tomasi Cama
Dylan Collier*
Scott Curry
Ambrose Curtis
Sam Dickson
DJ Forbes
Jack Goodhue
Josh Gordon*
Rieko Ioane*
Gillies Kaka
Tim Mikkelson
Lote Raikabula
Sherwin Stowers
Murphy Taramai
Beaudein Waaka*
Joe Webber
Manawatu
Waikato
Bay of Plenty
Wellington
Canterbury
Counties Manukau
Northland
Otago
Auckland
Hawke’s Bay
Waikato
Wellington
Counties Manukau
Wellington
Taranaki
Waikato
 * new squad member

Players unavailable due to injury are Declan O’Donnell, Joe Tupe and Sam Vaka.

The four new squad members are – Waikato utility back Dylan Collier; Otago wing Josh Gordon; Rieko Ioane, brother of former All Blacks Sevens player Akira Ioane and Taranaki 2014 ITM Cup squad member Beaudein Waaka.

“I have kept a close eye on these young players for some time,” said coach Gordon Tietjens. “They were certainly stand-outs at the National Sevens in Rotorua so it’s great to be able to include them in the squad for the first time.

“I am sure they will be going all out to earn selection for Wellington and Las Vegas.”

After three legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series the All Blacks Sevens are lying third behind Fiji and leaders South Africa. They must finish in the top four in the series to ensure automatic qualification for the Olympics in Rio de Janiero in 2016.

“We are very much looking forward to Wellington as the city really turns it on for all the teams. It’s always very special to play in front of a home crowd as we only play in New Zealand once a year.

“This is also an important tournament for us given our current position in the series. We won here last year so we will be working hard to do our best in front of our fans,” said Tietjens.

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