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Former Australian Schoolboys star Shaun Foley has capped his return from four years in rugby league with selection in the national squad for the next two legs of the IRB Sevens World Series at Wellington and San Diego.

Foley has been named in coach Michael O’Connor’s 12-man squad named for the NZI Sevens in Wellington, which gets underway at the Westpac Stadium on Friday, and the USA Sevens in San Diego the following weekend.

Last month UR7s reported that Foley was offered a chance to impress with the Aussie Spirit side at the Hottest 7s tournament in Darwin. In his first rugby union excursion since leaving school he impressed everyone with incisive running and the space he created for his colleagues.

O’Connor, himself a dual international, obviously saw the potential in the former NRL star who left the Roosters club last year.

The squad has been hit by the withdrawal of several injured players, but O’Connor says Foley has deserves his selection in what is a busy period on the IRB circuit.

“We gave Shaun his opportunity in Darwin and he certainly delivered,” said O’Connor, whose side reached the Cup quarter finals in the opening leg of the Series in Dubai last November.

“We have been impressed with what we’ve seen from him so far and we expect he will improve even further over the next few weeks.”

Australia will face defending champions and hosts New Zealand in Pool B in Wellington along with Wales and Niue. They then face Series leaders South Africa, hosts USA and Canada at PETCO Park in San Diego.

Australia squad:
Willie Bishop, Will Brock, Ben Coridas, Damon Murphy, Aiden Toua, Luke Morahan, Richard Kingi, Jonathan Jenkins, Ed Jenkins, Peter Bentham, Shaun Foley, Henry Vanderglas.