USA Sevens coach Al Caravelli has announced an experienced 12-man squad for the third event in this season's IRB Sevens World Series, the NZI Sevens in Wellington, New Zealand on 5-6 February.
After 11 days of intense training in Fiji, the Eagles Sevens team arrived from Suva on Monday.
"It was a bit different having our training camp in Fiji but it was excellent preparation for the next leg of the Series in Wellington and our home tournament in Las Vegas," said Caravelli.
"We all believe this was an excellent foundation for not only this leg, but for the rest of the Series.
"With the level of competition we experienced in the Suva Sevens tournament and the scrimmages with Fiji this past weekend, we were able to indentify our strengths and shortcomings and all the athletes are stronger for it."
Experience counts
Following their time in Fiji, Caravelli was faced with some tough selection decisions in order to trim his 15 players down to 12.
Bearing in mind the cauldron atmosphere likely to be presented by the Westpac Stadium this weekend, it was of little surprise that the least experienced players missed out.
While 19-year-old Dimitri Efthimiou impressed, he was one of the players sent home. The versatile Trevor Richards sustained an injury, while Olympic 400 metre hurdle star Bennie Brazell showed remarkable aptitude with just four day's playing experience but understandably needs more game time.
"I was very impressed with the 15-man squad we brought," added Caravelli. "They all showed a level of professionalism and maturity that we need to be successful.
"Hopefully the athletes and staff will be able to juggle their schedules so we can stay consistent and continue to improve."
Captain Swiryn returns
The team selected for Wellington will be led by captain Kevin Swiryn in his seventh IRB tournament.
Vice captain Matt Hawkins returns from injury to play in his 12th international tournament, the most experienced player in the squad.
Also in the squad and returning to the line-up from Dubai and George are Nick Edwards, who is currently the USA's leading try scorer, Ata Malifa, Mile Pulu, Shalom Suniula and Leonard Peters.
Zach Test and Nese Malifa both played in George, while Mark Bokhoven also returns having been injured in the first game in Dubai against England.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing Mark back in the line-up," said Caravelli. "For obvious reasons, he especially wants to start against England."
Marco Barnard and Paul Emerick are the final two members of the squad. Neither has played yet this season but both have experience of the World Series.
USA squad: Marco Barnard (Kutztown University), Mark Bokhoven (Denver Barbarians), Nick Edwards (New York Athletic Club), Paul Emerick (Overmach Parma), Matt Hawkins (Belmont Shore), Ata Malifa (Belmont Shore), Nese Malifa (Belmont Shore), Leonard Peters (Aspen), Mile Pulu (San Francisco Golden Gate), Shalom Suniula (Pearl City), Kevin Swiryn (Old Puget Sound Beach) *Captain, Zack Test (Loughborough Students)
