Fresh look for Australia Sevens
South African-born 21-year-old loose forward, Conor Mitchell will make his debut in Canada after impressing in last year's National Championship for Queensland Country. Playmaker Lewis Holland is recalled to the 12-man squad and is in line to win his 30th World Series cap after being rested for Las Vegas while experienced James Stannard also returns to the fold.
Quade Cooper, who made a successful debut in the USA, has been granted permission by his French Top 14 club side Toulon to play at the sold-out BC Place Stadium.
Tom Lucas (knee) and Pat McCutcheon (hamstring) join an injury list that includes Nick Malouf (knee), Pama Fou (shoulder), Simon Kennewell (ankle), Sam Figg (virus) and Tom Cusack (wrist).
"We've decided to freshen things up for Vancouver in order to give players additional experience and to manage workloads. I feel we're building a genuine depth in our player pool at the moment and we're slowly getting to a stage where we can count on any of the players in the program to step into the breach.
"The team performed well last weekend [in Las Vegas] but this series doesn't wait around and, as a squad, we have to look forward. We want to be playing for World Series points at the top end of the table and in order to do so, we need to consistently qualify for Cup semifinals, Finals and ultimately win those Finals," Friend said.
Australia has been drawn in Pool B alongside Russia, hosts Canada and Wales.
"We're playing teams who will be hungry to turn us over. Russia are newcomers who are beginning to find their feet, while we know what the effect of a home crowd can have on you from our experience in Sydney. It lifts everyone and that makes Canada particularly dangerous. Wales did well in Vegas, meanwhile, to win what was a competitive Bowl competition.
"It's exciting times for us, but at the same time, we're taking things game-by-game. There is no other way or you run a big risk of falling short against any country," he added.
Australia Sevens: Henry Hutchison, Tom Kingston, Sam Myers, Lewis Holland, James Stannard, Con Foley, Boyd Killingworth, Stephan van der Walt, John Porch, Allan Fa'alava'au, Quade Cooper, Conor Mitchell.
