Aussie Sevens stick to their guns
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Australian Sevens head coach Geraint John has named an unchanged squad for the fifth round of the Sevens World Series in Las Vegas, starting Saturday.
Following the Wellington Sevens last weekend, John once again goes with the same 12 players and is steeling himself for a busy week ahead with the short turnaround to the tournament.
"The players underwent a full medical yesterday morning and then did a recovery session," John said.
"Those players that didn't get so much game time took part in a physical session yesterday afternoon before we all gathered to analyse our performance from the Wellington tournament.
"In the next week we have a school visit that we are all looking forward to and then a field and gym session on Tuesday. Recovery on Wednesday and then we'll see how we're shaping up on Thursday.
"All in all, it's a busy week, but one that is exciting and that we are relishing. We're all keen to get back on the field to address the mistakes that cost us in Wellington last weekend."
Australia has been drawn alongside Brazil, France and Scotland in Pool D for the tournament at the 38,500-capacity Sam Boyd Stadium and John is anticipating a hugely competitive group.
"I have to be honest, with Brazil not being a core team in the World Series, they are a difficult team to assess.
"However, they ran France very close in Dubai, they are the only team to have qualified for the Olympics to date so they’ll be keen to impress.
"I thought France were great in Wellington and were incredibly unlucky to go out of Cup contention after beating the Series leaders South Africa so convincingly in the pool stage.
"They only had one defeat all weekend so it was a positive tournament for them.
"Scotland will only gain confidence from how they performed in Wellington too. I have great respect for their players and coaching staff and they will present a big challenge for us."
Australia sit fourth in the Sevens World Series standings after four rounds of the season, six points behind Fiji and just two ahead of England.
The top four countries at the end of the current series will qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Australian Sevens fixtures for Las Vegas:
Australia v Brazil
Australia v France
Australia v Scotland
Australian Sevens squad: Cameron Clark, Tom Cusack, Allan Fa'alava'au, Con Foley, Pama Fou, Lewis Holland, Greg Jeloudev, Ed Jenkins, Nick Malouf, Sam Myers, Jesse Parahi, James Stannard.
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