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Along with many of the teams headed to Hong Kong this week, Australia and USA coaches Michael O'Connor and Al Caravelli have been forced into a handful of changes due to injury and player unavailability.

The Aussies have been hampered by injuries to Ed Jenkins (knee), Ben Coridas (shoulder) and Afusipa Tauoepeau (ankle), who are replaced by Dane Haylett-Petty, Ben McCalman and Dominic Shipperley.

Haylett-Petty returns after playing in the first tournament of the year in Dubai and McCalman has recovered from an ankle injury and proved his fitness with two games for New South Wales A.

Whilst Dominic Shipperley, an outside back from Queensland who turned 18 two months ago, was invited along with a few other up-and-comers to attend the Australian Sevens training camp last week.

In 2008, this rising star was an integral member of the Australian Schoolboys side. Shipperley scored four tries - one in the Test win over Fiji 18's in Brisbane and another three on the five-match tour to Tonga and New Zealand.

"Shipperley is only young and Hong Kong will be great experience for him," O'Connor said.

"He's a player who has showed a lot of promise through his Schoolboys football, so we're keen to have a look at him, and because of injury it has happened sooner rather than later."

Australia is placed in Pool C for Hong Kong alongside New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. O'Connor's men will first play Zimbabwe on Friday evening.

"There is no easy draw, you got to beat these teams if you're going to win it, we're looking forward to it," said O'Connor, a former Wallaby and dual international.

Unlike the men in green and gold, the USA Eagles have been forced to make changes following retirements and the return of their experienced campaigners back to their professional clubs.

“As we said before, this will be a very different squad than we’ve had during the first two legs of the series and six changes from the World Cup squad. The average age of the squad is 22, with four players under 20. With that said, these young men are very talented, fast and quick,” said coach Caravelli.

“We are all very much looking forward to seeing how they compete on the biggest Sevens stage in the world, Hong Kong. Hong Kong is my favorite tournament - as a coach and player, it has a special quality from the atmosphere to the competition, everyone brings their ‘A’ game,” he added.

Six of the twelve players named for the third leg of the Series head into Hong Kong eager to erase the disappointment from their Rugby World Cup Sevens campaign and with hopes of picking up where they left off in the San Diego earlier in the season.

Perhaps the biggest concern will be the loss of talismanic skipper Chris Wyles who has returned back to Saracens following the World Cup. He is replaced as captain by Kevin Swiryn who, despite being a newcomer to the team this season, has quickly asserted himself as an integral member of the squad chipping in with a useful tally of 12 tries.

“We have a new captain in Kevin Swiryn, who has showed he has what it takes on the pitch, but more importantly is a born leader. On and off the field he leads by example, and the other members really rally around him.” said Caravelli.

Thretton Palamo, who shined in San Diego, is again released from Biarritz and rejoins the squad. Roland Suniula joins the squad from Wellington, where he had a breakout tournament versus Fiji earlier this season.

Having attended several training camps in the past Zach Pangelinan and Zach Test will make their series debuts in Hong Kong, whilst the elusive PJ Komongnan returns to the squad for the first time since Wellington in 2008.

The USA faces some stiff competition in Pool F against the likes of Scotland, a combined West Indies side, and Kenya.

The Kenyan side currently sits one place ahead of the U.S. (20 points) in the IRB Sevens World Series standings with 24 points and looks to build on the momentum off the back of a strong showing at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai two weeks ago. Kenya was eliminated from the Melrose Cup competition by eventual runners up Argentina in the semifinals, while fellow Pool F competitor Scotland heads into Hong Kong after capturing the Plate at the RWC Sevens.

“Hong Kong is a great tournament. We have a renewed spirit in camp with a lot of youth. Several players have moved on, which comes with mixed emotions, but on the other side of the coin it’s going to be great to watch how this team competes on the world stage,” added the coach.

Australian Squad for Hong Kong and Adelaide: William Bishop, William Brock, Shaun Foley, Dane Haylett-Petty, Jonathan Jenkins, Richard Kingi, Benjamin McCalman, Luke Morahan, Damon Murphy, Brian Sefanaia, Domonic Shipperley, Henry Vanderglas.

USA Squad for Hong Kong and Adelaide: Mark Bokhoven (Denver Barbarians); Justin Boyd (Dallas Harlequins); Matt Hawkins (Belmont Shore RFC); PJ Komongnan (Washington RFC); Jone Naqica (San Francisco Golden Gate); Thretton Palamo (Biarritz); Zach Pangelinan (OMBAC); Rikus Pretorius (Olympic Club); Shalom Suniula (Brisbane); Roland Suniula (Pearl City); Kevin Swiryn (Unaffiliated); Zach Test (San Francisco Golden Gate)