All Blacks Sevens team for Las Vegas named
The All Blacks Sevens team to play the fourth leg of the 2016/17 HSBC World Series in Las Vegas, starting tomorrow, has been named.
As a precaution Captain Scott Curry has not been selected due to a minor concussion incurred during training a couple of weeks ago. Sevens stalwart and former captain DJ Forbes will pick up the captaincy for the tournament.
The team is:
DJ Forbes – Captain (Counties Manukau)
Dylan Collier (Southland)
Iopu Iopu-Aso (Taranaki)
Trael Joass (Tasman)
Andrew Knewstubb (Tasman)
Vilimoni Koroi (Otago)
Tim Mikkelson (Waikato)
Sione Molia (Counties Manukau)
Tone Ng Shiu (Tasman)
Sherwin Stowers (Counties Manukau)
Isaac Te Tamaki (Waikato)
Beaudein Waaka (Taranaki)
Thirteenth player:
Ambrose Curtis (Manawatu)
“Scott suffered a minor concussion a couple of weeks ago. We were hopeful he would be able to play this weekend, and while he is technically clear and keen to play we are erring on the side of caution. We are optimistic he will be able fresh and available for Vancouver next week,” said All Blacks Sevens Head Coach Scott Waldrom.
“We have had a great week in training. The boys are feeling good, have trained well and had solid preparation at Mt Maunganui building up to coming over here. I think we are in pretty good shape heading into the tournament.
“I’m happy we are taking a settled squad into the tournament with largely the same group that played in Wellington and Sydney playing here. They are getting used to playing together and the more training and game time they get together is a good thing.
“We have a tough pool. There are a variety of styles that we will be playing against. We are looking forward to playing Argentina again, after the disappointing loss to them in Wellington. We didn’t put in a performance we were proud of, so this is a chance for the team to step up and play the way we should be playing.”
Schedule for All Blacks Sevens pool play
(Please note the tournament follows the Olympics schedule with two games a day spread over three days)
Saturday 4 March 2017
2:15 pm NZT v Kenya
5:14 pm NZT v Russia
Sunday 5 March 2017
11.36 am NZT v Argentina
First round of finals
Monday 6 March 2017
Finals Day
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