Pool C: Two changes for Australia

Captain Ed Jenkins and star centre Cameron Clark return to the Australia squad after being rested for the last round in Vancouver, while Con Foley is set to become just the second Australian to play 40 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series events when he takes to the field at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium next weekend.

Australia have a raft of players unavailable for selection for the seventh round of the 2015-16 series with Tom Cusack (wrist), Pama Fou (shoulder), Nick Malouf (knee), Tom Lucas (knee), Simon Kennewell (ankle), Pat McCutcheon (hamstring), Greg Jeloudev (foot) and Henry Speight (eye) all missing out.

The in-form Australians have been drawn in a testing Pool C alongside Cape Town finalists Argentina, the USA and Portugal. Should the Australians qualify for at least the Cup semi-final stage in Hong Kong it will be the first time that they have reached the last four in four straight tournaments since 2001.

"Hong Kong represents the perfect opportunity to continue the momentum we have been slowly building this season. We're on a good run but it's important we remain clinical in everything we do in both attack and defence," said coach Andy Friend (pictured).

"We are building a large pool of quality players that I believe will serve us well for the remainder of the season which will create huge competition for places come the Olympics and beyond. We do, however, have plenty of hard work on our hands before we even begin to think about Rio.

"We have drawn a pool of teams in Hong Kong that will demand our respect. Argentina have already played in one Cup final this season while the USA can beat anyone on their day as they have proved against New Zealand on more than one occasion this season. Portugal are facing a fight to retain their World Series status next season so will come out hungry and looking to turn us over."

Australia currently sits fourth in the series standings, 14 points adrift of third-placed New Zealand and ahead of the USA in fifth by the same margin.

Australia squad: Henry Hutchison, Tom Kingston, Sam Myers, Lewis Holland, James Stannard, Con Foley, Cameron Clark, Stephan Van Der Walt, Ed Jenkins (captain), Allan Fa’alava’au, John Porch, Boyd Killingworth.

KEY TRIO RETURN FOR USA

Carlin Isles, Zack Test, and Maka Unufe all return to USA Sevens squad for the Hong Kong and Singapore legs of the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

The trio were unavailable for the inaugural Canada Sevens, earlier this month, where Mike Friday's squad reached its eighth consecutive Cup quarter-final and the tournament's Plate final. 

Isles was given permission by the coaching staff to chase his dream of running track at the Rio 2016 Olympic Summer Games with an appearance at the 2016 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, while Test and Unufe recovered from injuries sustained at the USA Sevens in Las Vegas the week prior.

Despite missing three influential veterans with 106 combined appearances on the circuit, the Eagles finished second in their pool behind eventual Cup winner New Zealand and took Fiji beyond the 14th minute in the Cup quarter-finals. 

Perry Baker led the team with seven tries in six matches and Martin Iosefo scored four tries from midfield in a Dream Team selection performance.

Barbarian Ben fronts up

Young Ben Pinkelman also started all six matches in his fourth series appearance, shoring up the forwards alongside Danny Barrett and Garrett Bender. The Colorado State University student-athlete and Denver Barbarians club man has now earned his fifth and sixth consecutive national team call-up just two months after he made his debut at the Wellington Sevens.

"Ben has equipped himself well and continues to improve the more he plays, and gives us added strength in the forwards," Friday said. "We are just very mindful that we balance his studies and ensure that this is not compromised as he has some important exams coming up that we are all confident and supportive that he passes."

Not seen on the circuit since Friday's first tournament with the team at the start of the 2014-15 season,,Peter Tiberio has been recalled to the 12-man squad for the Hong Kong and Singapore legs of the series. The University of Arizona graduate and Pan Am Games 2011 bronze medallist captained the USA Falcons at the Las Vegas Invitational tournament at the beginning of the month, a Cup-winning performance for the development side.

"'Tibs' has been training exceptionally well and continued that form following his impressive showing at the LVI," Friday said. "The added strength that 'Tibs' has is his versatility; whilst he can play at nine or 10, he is equally comfortable at centre or hooker and has the skill sets to fit in at any of these positions. We are excited to see how he progresses as he is now fully fit and injury-free having been in the residency programme these last four months."

The Eagles retained their fifth-place standing on the Series with 12 points from Vancouver, and find themselves paired with Argentina (sixth), Australia (fourth), and Portugal (16th) in Pool C at the 41st edition of the world famous Hong Kong Sevens.

USA squad: Carlin Isles, Ben Pinkelman, Danny Barrett, Garrett Bender, Zack Test, Peter Tiberio, Folau Niua, Maka Unufe, Nate Augspurger, Madison Hughes (c), Perry Baker, Martin Iosefo

RUGBY WORLD CUP PLAYER BOOSTS ARGENTINA

Pumas' star Javier Ortega Desio will play his first tournament of this season's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, having been included in a 13-man squad named by coach Santiago Gómez Cora for the two Asian tournaments in Hong Kong (8-10 April) and Singapore (16 -17 April).

The flanker played 11 tournaments in two seasons, between 2010 and 2012, and last year played in the Olympic qualifier in Santa Fe that gave Argentina their ticket to Rio 2016. He also played three games during Rugby World Cup 2015, including the bronze final against South Africa. 

Sebastián Cancelliere and the return of Juan Pablo Estellés were the other two changes to the squad that in Vancouver lost against France in the Bowl semi-final. Argentina currently lies sixth with 69 points.

However, Gómez Cora has had to make two further changes to his initial squad withGermán Schulz and Nicolás Menéndez ruled out with symptons of the mumps, so Barbier Renzo and Ramiro Finco come in as replacements.

Los Pumas Sevens will play in Pool C in Hong Kong and will open against Australia. The last time they met was in Las Vegas, where the Australians won 26-12 in the Cup quarter-finals. They will then play against USA and Portugal.

Argentina squad: Barbier Renzo, Nicolás Bruzzone, Sebastián Cancelliere, Juan Pablo Estellés, Rodrigo Etchart, Bautista Ezcurra, RamiroFinco, Fernando Luna, Ramiro Moyano, Axel Müller, Javier Ortego Desio, Gaston Revol, Segundo Tuculet.