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USA head into camp

Friday 21 January 2011 (usasevens.com)

Players are arriving at the US Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. for the USA men’s 7s team camp.

USA Coach Al Caravelli will be without outside back Mile Pulu, who is injured, but he will return the vast majority of the squad that played in Dubai and South Africa. Also back is Justin Boyd, who is hoping to break back into the squad after over a year away with injury, and Paul Emerick, who joined the team last year about this time in each of the last two seasons, helping spark the Eagles to some outstanding results.

The two big unknowns in the list are Tyler Leith and Pila Siona Taufa. Leith is a New Zealand-based flyhalf who was born in American Samoa. He was a provincial-level 7s player in New Zealand, playing for Waikato in the 2008 National Sevens Championships. He is a strong, skilled flyhalf.

Taufa is a young talent from Hawaii. Very quick, he possesses some impressive open-field running instincts. He is a raw talent. Caravelli told RUGBYMag.com he never goes into a camp with a preconceived notion of what his team should look like – the team could come out of camp all size, all speed, or a combination.

“Before Zack Test made the team I’d never had a hooker like Zack,” he said as an example. However Caravelli does know which players played well in the first two tournaments. It’s hard to imagine that Test, Mark Bokhoven, Matt Hawkins or Nu’u Punimata would be left out of the forwards.

Marco Barnard, Shalom Suniula, Roland Suniula and Miles Craigwell also all showed well in the opening rounds of the HSBC IRB Sevens World Series. The rest will have to battle for the remaining spots.

For his part, Caravelli isn’t saying anything, except to acknowledge that Pulu’s absence makes his team light in the centers. “I am going into each camp with my eyes wide open,” he said. “I am excited to see how these players have developed, and how the new players perform.”

USA 7s Camp Squad: James Aldridge Mark Bokhoven Matt Hawkins Taylor Mokate Nu’u Punimata Zack Test Marco Barnard PJ Komongnan Tai Enosa Tyler Leith Zach Pangelinan Shalom Suniula Paul Emerick Colin Hawley Pila Taufa Roland Suniula Gershon Blaise Alex Ross Justin Boyd Miles Craigwell

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