Aussie skipper Patrick McCutcheon

Adelaide is the next stop on the Sevens World Series this weekend and Australia believes that playing at home will give it an extra edge over fierce competition from 15 nations.

Australia is coming off its best result in two years after recording an upset victory over Pacific heavyweights Fiji in Las Vegas, before falling to eventual champions Samoa by two-points.

In one of the most competitive Series in recent times, Samoa, after their victory in Vegas, have narrowed the gap to leaders New Zealand, while Australia (46) can leapfrog fourth-placed England (50) with a solid performance in Adelaide.

The US (4) currently lies in 11th place in the standings.

Aussie coach Michael O’Connor believes his youngsters are capable of handling the unique demands of a home event.

"I think pressure's a really good thing for these boys and coming off a pretty good result in Las Vegas we're really looking forward to this one," he said.

South Africa took out the Adelaide tournament for the second consecutive year in 2009, after beating crowd favourites Kenya 26-7 in the Cup Final. Fiji claimed the first Adelaide Sevens title in 2007.

Australia kickoff of their 2010 Adelaide Sevens campaign against Niue, a small nation from the Pacific Islands, on Friday night in their opening Pool D match, before matches against the US and archrivals England on Saturday.

In other news, Australia's Sevens captain Patrick McCutcheon has signed a two-year deal with Super 14 franchise New South Wales.