Australia’s Cam Clark earned a place in the tournament ‘Dream Team’ for his performances
at last week’s USA Sevens in Las Vegas – Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

ARU Media Release –

The 2013 – 2014 HSBC World Sevens Series resumes in Wellington, New Zealand on Friday 7 – Saturday 8 February, with the Qantas Men’s Sevens set to face Samoa, Kenya and Tonga on the first day.

With four rounds of the series complete, South Africa (78) leads the competition ladder, with New Zealand a point behind in second. Fiji (56) sit third with England (53) fourth. Australia (46) are just a point outside the top five, a point behind Samoa (47).

Only one change has been made to the team following the Las Vegas event, with long-standing captain Ed Jenkins re-joining the squad after an injury layoff.

Jenkins will replace Jordan Tuapou in an experienced line up which last time out suffered a narrow 26-24 loss to England in the Las Vegas Plate Final.

However, the Australian skipper is confident the team will be able to get back in the winner’s circle in New Zealand following a mixed tournament in the USA.

Influential captain Ed Jenkins returns
from injury this weekend

“I was disappointed I couldn’t play in Las Vegas, but I was extremely impressed with the boy’s attitude, particularly in the Fiji game when we came back from the dead. The team seems to be shaping up nicely for the second half of the season.

“We took a lot out of the tournament with strong performances against the Fijians, Scotland and Argentina. Cam being named in the tournament’s ‘Dream Team’ was a deserved accolade. He was fantastic.

“I believe we have a realistic chance in Wellington to make a real statement and get into that top four. The boys are relishing the opportunity to play in front of a packed out New Zealand crowd that absolutely love their Rugby Sevens,” Ed said.

Coach Michael O’Connor praised the efforts of his young side and their ability to bounce back after a few tough losses.

“The team has come together well this year and it continues to evolve. It gave me great satisfaction to see the boys emerge from the ‘pool of death’ in Las Vegas after being drawn with the number one and three ranked teams in the world, New Zealand and Fiji.”

“We have a side that has genuine potential at the moment and our combinations are really starting to bear fruit. Having Captain Ed Jenkins back to bolster the team leading into Wellington is a bonus as well,” Michael added.

The draw for the Wellington Sevens sees defending champions England face Portugal, South Africa and Wales in Pool A. Hosts New Zealand have been drawn with Fiji, France and Spain in Pool B.

On the other side of the schedule, Scotland have been drawn with Argentina, Canada and the USA in Pool C while Australia faces early competition in Pool D, with a mouth-watering clash against Tonga to kick off its Wellington campaign at 12:03 – Friday 7 (AEDT).

Fans can watch the all the action live on Fox Sports 2 from 10.55am on Friday 7 and from 10.50am on Saturday 8 (AEDT) with matches being streamed live at http://www.irbsevens.com/index.html

The draw for Rugby Sevens at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games has been released. Australia is up against England, Sri Lanka and Uganda in Pool D, with tournament dates and the match schedule to be announced next month.

The next HSBC Sevens World Series tournament for the Qantas Men’s Sevens team will take place in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday 22 – Saturday 23 of March.

Follow the Qantas Men’s and Women’s Sevens with updates on Twitter @Aussie7s

Squad:

Ed Jenkins (Sydney University); Con Foley (University of Queensland, NSW); Jesse Parahi (Northern Suburbs, NSW); Sam Myers (Northern Suburbs, NSW); Allan Fa’alava’au (Endeavour Hills, NSW); Peter Schuster (Northern Suburbs, NSW); Greg Jeloudev (Sydney University, NSW); Cameron Clark (Northern Suburbs, NSW); Shannon Walker (Easts, QLD); Nick Malouf (University of Queensland, QLD); Tom Lucas (Sunnybank, QLD); Paul Asquith (Southern Districts, NSW)