US 7s look at NFL Converts
Feb.13.2010
United States coach Al Caravelli has named two NFL (Gridiron) converts in his squad for the first time, as the USA 7s national team look to rebuild a squad capable of emulating their impressive Cup semifinal appearance at last year's US leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.
Former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Bennie Brazell, who also finished fourth in the 2004 Olympic 400 metres hurdles final, joins fellow NFL convert Leonard Peters in the Eagles' 12-man line-up.
The final squads have been declared by all 16 teams set to compete in the USA Sevens in Las Vegas, USA on Saturday and Sunday at the city's Sam Boyd Stadium.
The tournament is the fourth event in the 2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series, which New Zealand currently lead by just four points - after Fiji's victory last weekend at the NZ Sevens in Wellington.
Thretton Palamo also comes back into the 12, while the injured Mark Bokhoven and Ata Malifa will sit this tournament out.
"We took Bennie with us to our camp in Suva, Fiji and he had literally seen a rugby ball for four days before we put him in the [Suva] tournament. We gave him three to four minutes in every game," said Caravelli.
"He doesn't know all the rules yet, but I challenge all of my coaching peers to find a guy who they can throw into a tournament in Fiji with four days of rugby experience.
"The one thing you look at with these guys is that they are amazing athletes and we have quite a few of them coming through."
The final squads have been declared by all 16 teams set to compete in the USA Sevens in Las Vegas.
"The team is really excited about playing at home in the USA," Caravelli said.
"We have tackled a few of the mistakes from last week and are looking to put our best foot forward."
While Argentina, Canada, France, New Zealand, Samoa and South Africa are all unchanged, nine other sides also join the hosts in altering their squads.
Among the World Series core teams, Australia have called up Liam Gill to replace Dominic Shipperley, England replace injured captain Kevin Barrett with newcomer Oliver Lindsay-Hague, Wellington winners Fiji replace Waisale Beci with Joeli Lutumailagi and Kenya call up forward Allan Onyango in the place of Sidney Ashioya.
Scotland bring in debutants Craig Jackson and Steven Aitken to replace Mike Adamson and Grant Anderson, while Wales make the most changes, Will Harries, Rhys Webb and Gavin Deacy joining the squad in Vegas to place Chris Morgan, Alex Cuthbert and Chris Davies.
South American qualifiers Chile name eight newcomers to the World Series, while Japan have five players new to international Sevens.
Guyana qualified from the Caribbean region and feature several of the players who have represented the West Indies in past tournaments, notably impressive captain Claudius Butts
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