American Samoa is hoping to make an immediate impact in Sevens Rugby just a few months after becoming a full IRB member.
The territory's sevens team is currently in Samoa preparing for this weekend's Oceania men's tournament in Sydney, where places on the upcoming world series and next year's world cup will be on offer.
Despite its status as the newest IRB member, national sevens coach Fano Fata says they're hoping to hit the ground running.
"That's our main goal, to qualify for the world cup and also at least two of the three legs of the world series. I'm confident with the boys we have right now - we've been training for a few months and we just got back from competing at the Samoa Heritage Week in Hawaii so it's a big step for us too."
American Samoa is in the same pool as Solomon Islands, Australia and Tonga.
