The All Blacks Sevens coach Sir Gordon Tietjens has named four new players in his squad to prepare for the next two World Series tournaments in Wellington and Las Vegas.
They are the Waikato utility back Dylan Collier; Otago wing Josh Gordon; Rieko Ioane - the brother of former All Blacks Sevens player Akira Ioane - and Taranaki 2014 ITM Cup squad member Beaudein Waaka.
Sir Gordon said he's been keeping a close eye on these players for some time.
"They were certainly standouts at the National Sevens in Rotorua so it's great to be able to include them in the squad for the first time," he said.
Sir Gordon said he's sure the four new faces will be going all out to earn selection for the Wellington tournament, next weekend, and the Las Vegas Sevens, a week later. The team will be named on Monday February the 2nd.
After three legs of the 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.
All Blacks Sevens squad:
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
* denotes new squad member
Players unavailable due to injury are Declan O'Donnell, Joe Tupe and Sam Vaka.