All Blacks Sevens squad named

The All Blacks Sevens squad to prepare for the next two tournaments of the HSBC Sevens World Series; Sevens 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 (Manawatu)
• Dylan Collier* (Waikato)
• Scott Curry (Bay of Plenty)
• Ambrose Curtis (Wellington)
• Sam Dickson (Canterbury)
• DJ Forbes (Counties Manukau)
• Jack Goodhue (Northland)
• Josh Gordon* (Otago)
• Rieko Ioane* (Auckland)
• Gillies Kaka (Hawke’s Bay)
• Tim Mikkelson (Waikato)
• Lote Raikabula (Wellington)
• Sherwin Stowers (Counties Manukau)
• Murphy Taramai (Wellington)
• Beaudein Waaka* (Taranaki)
• Joe Webber (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.