Teams Named for Las Vegas 7s

Scotland, Portugal, Russia, and Wales have named their teams to compete at the Las Vegas stop on the HSBC Sevens Series this weekend. All squads have now been named, with Canada, Fiji, New Zealand, and South Africa to confirm their final 12 within the coming hours.

PORTUGAL

Antonio Aguilar has called up a pair of 18-year-olds in José Luis Cabral and Antonio Vidinha in the only two changes from Sydney. Captain and playmaker Pedro Leal makes his 60th Series appearance, with powerhouse forward Aderito Esteves just behind on 58. Currently in 15th on the table, they will target wins over Kenya and Russia to try and sneak into the Cup finals.

João Belo, José Luis Cabral, David Carvalho, Fabio Conceição, Aderito Esteves, Tiago Fernandes, Pedro Leal (capt.), Vasco Poppe, Diogo Ribeiro, Vasco Ribeiro, Pedro Silverio, Antonio Vidinha

RUSSIA

The Russians have also made two changes, recalling Ivan Korotkov and Nikolai Zaporzhin at the expense of Viktor Kononov and player-coach Alexander Yanyushkin. Leading the charge as ever is Vladimir Ostroushko, while a new danger man looks to be German Davydov. Russia trail both Japan and Portugal by one point on the table, and will have a change to make up ground when they face Os Lobos in Pool A.

German Davydov, Eduard Filatov, Yuri Gostyuzhev, Ivan Korotkov, Vladislav Lazarenko, Vladimir Ostroushko (capt.), Patris Peki, Dimitri Perov, Vladislav Sozonov, Dimitri Sukhin, Nikolai Zaporzhin, Vitali Zhivatov

SCOTLAND

Despite claiming rights to the birthplace of the sport, Scotland have been consigned to also-rans in recent years. Head coach Calum McRae will hope that the return of experienced duo James Fleming and Fraser Lyle will provide some inspiration to the team on their North American trip. The British Army pair of Joe Nayacavou and Junior Bulumakau bring plenty of physicality to the side.

Hugh Blake, Junior Bulumakau, Jamie Farndale, James Fleming, James Johnstone, Gavin Lowe, Fraser Lyle, Nick McLennan, Joe Nayacavou, Scott Riddell, Mark Robertson, Scott Wight (capt.)

WALES

Another country with a history of under-achievement aside from one glorious run that saw them lift the 2009 Sevens World Cup, which now seems a lifetime ago. Inconsistency in selection has hampered their progress, but only two changes have been made for Las Vegas with Chris Knight and Adam Thomas recalled. Luke Treharne is again skipper and will provide much of the creativity, while Sam Cross has been the form player up front.

Sam Cross, Ethan Davies, Lloyd Evans, Tom Isaacs, Owen Jenkins, Chris Knight, Luke Morgan, Kristian Phillips, Ben Roach, Adam Thomas, Luke Treharne (capt.), Jordan Williams

 

POOL A	POOL B	POOL C	POOL D
New Zealand	Australia	Fiji	South Africa
Kenya	England	Argentina	USA
Portugal	Scotland	Samoa	Canada
Russia	Japan	France	Wales