US readies for Adelaide 7s

Al Caravelli

Head coach Al Caravelli leads the US team into the Adelaide Sevens this weekend after a couple of disappointing turn of events for his young squad.

“Like all teams coming straight out of Hong Kong to play in Adelaide - we have a few nicks and bruises,” Caravelli said.

“And, it is always hard to lose players like Jason Pye and Takudzwa Ngwenya. But, we’ll make the most of what we have. We still have 11 strong players and a full day of recovery ahead of us, which is a positive thing.”

Following the loss of Jason Pye to injury in Hong Kong, Caravelli was set to bring in Takudzwa Ngwenya for Adelaide to fill the position. Ngwenya was due to meet up with the USA Sevens squad in Australia this week, but sustained an injury playing for Biarritz against Toulouse.

And, contrary to the IRB’s earlier report that Jovesa Naivalu was set to fill the shoes of Ngwenya on the squad, Caravelli has confirmed that Naivalu was just training with his former team and will be unable to play this weekend.

While facing the likes of Australia, South Africa and Canada during its pool play on Saturday in Adelaide, the USA is still hopeful to notch a win and ideally some points in its last stop on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit.

“We are sticking with our game plan,” Caravelli added. “South Africa, as always, will be a tough competitor, and with Australia playing at home, it will be tough to keep the crowd from being a factor, but we are looking forward to playing Canada again. It is rare to be able to turn around and play the same team less than seven days later and we are hoping to use that to our advantage.

USA: Justin Boyd (Texas A&M), Todd Clever (OMBAC), James Gillenwater (At Large), Troy Hall (White Plains), Matthew Hawkins (OMBAC), Nese Malifa (Belmont Shore), Vili Matanibukaca (OMBAC), Jone Naqica (San Francisco Golden Gate), Thretton Palamo (Biarritz), Dallen Stanford (Austin Blacks) and Chris Wyles (OMBAC)