29 Jan 2015

New faces in All Blacks Sevens for Wellington

8:46 am on 29 January 2015

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.

Waikato's Dylan Collier breaks a tackle.

Waikato's Dylan Collier at the recent national sevens competition. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

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.