USA have announced their final squad to challenge for their first ever tournament win on home soil at the HSBC USA Sevens. 

Following the declaration of all 16 final squads for the fifth leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Las Vegas, USA head coach Mike Friday has opted for a blend of power and experience in his 13-man outfit to be captained by playmaker Madison Hughes. USA will contest Pool B against England Samoa and Chile, a pool Hughes believes will be a big challenge. 

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“I think it’s a pool we are confident we can be successful in, but as with any pool in the series these days, if we’re slightly off, we know that those teams will punish us.

“England have been on fire so far this season, and have been up there with South Africa as the form team. We know they’ll be a really tough test, and they have the experience of Dan Norton, Dan Bibby, Tom Mitchell, James Rodwell and Phil Burgess, which is a very strong core with good players around them.

“Samoa are a difficult team to prepare for, as you never know quite which Samoa team you will get. They won’t be pleased with their start to the season, but you only have to look back to Paris to see how dangerous they can be. The Samoan team will always present a very physical challenge, with strong ball carriers and big tackles. With more time as well, we’re sure to see the product of more time with Sir Gordon Tietjens.

“Chile are a bit of an unknown. We crossed paths with them in the Pan Am Games a couple of years ago, but we don’t really know much about them."

England remain unchanged from the squad that contest the HSBC Sydney Sevens, while Samoa bring back the experience of 2009-10 series winner Afa Aiono and former captain Faalemiga Selesele.

In Pool A, series leaders South Africa will be chasing their fourth tournament win of the series but will be without sensational finisher Seabelo Senatla and powerhouse Kwagga Smith who have both moved to Super Rugby. Wales bring back all-time top scorer Luke Morgan into the mix while Canada will be looking to the experience of John Moonlight, who is set to become the most experienced Canadian sevens player of all time when he runs out at his 53rd tournament. France bring in one debutant, Alexandre Lagarde, to contest the event.

In Pool C, DJ Forbes will takeover the captaincy for New Zealand after Scott Curry was ruled out of the tournament due to a mild concussion. Russia and Argentina complete the group, with largely unchanged squads since Sydney last February.

Finally, in Pool D Australia bring back the experienced trio of Ed Jenkins, Nick Malouf and Tom Lucas to bolster their youtful squad, with the team hoping to buld on their Cup semi-final performance in Sydney. Fiji bring in Masivesi Dakuwaqa, Apisai Domolailai and Waisea Nacuqu as they chase their first tournament win of the 2016-17 series. Scotland will field the experienced heads of Mark Robertson (51 tournaments) and Scott Riddell (53 tournaments) in their squad along with flyers such as James Fleming.