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England coach Ben Ryan feels England are hitting form just at the right time following their 19-17 last-gasp win over hosts New Zealand in the final Wellington last weekend. In a crucial juncture of the season they head to the USA Sevens in San Diego on Saturday in confident mood with no real injury concerns.

Ryan's men have jumped from third to second in the IRB Sevens Series rankings, just four points behind leaders South Africa. With the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai just 21 days away, things are starting to fall into place for the English.

"This was my first tournament win and this was England's first tournament win in New Zealand. We're one tournament away from the World Cup so this is good timing for us," said Ryan.

"We have worked really hard to get to this point. We've had consistency in our players, they're fit and they have a lot of belief."

Series leaders South Africa have been somewhat boosted by the news that both Gio Aplon (neck) and Philip Snyman’s (hand) have recovered from their Wellington injuries. This should ease the pressure on Treu, whose team is clinging on to a narrow four-point lead over England and New Zealand at the top of the pile after victories in Dubai and George legs late last year.

“Gio and Philip should be fine because both of them have already started with gym training,” said Treu.

“We will continue to monitor them, and although they may miss some training matches against Mexico and Uruguay as a precaution, I am confident both will be ready come this weekend.”

Cheetahs and South Africa Under 20 wing Lionel Mapoe has joins up with the sqaud as a replacement for the injured Springbok Sevens stalwart and captain, Mzwandile Stick. The SA skipper returned home on Monday after suffering a hamstring injury in Wellington, which has ruled him out of the USA event and maybe next month’s showpiece in Dubai.

Treu admitted that his side are desperate to reverse their fortunes in San Diego after being not even making the Cup stages last week after being edged out by African rivals, Kenya. The Springboks sought some solace beating Wales 26-12 to take the Plate and have made Treu determined for a performance at PETCO Park.

“We have moved on from those disappointments and I sense a real hunger among the guys to do well here in the States. The surprise results in New Zealand might have come as a shock to many. But I have been saying for a while that the teams in the series are moving closer in terms of performance, which is good for Sevens.”

Another team to struggle in Wellington was Fiji who have come in for a barrage of criticism following their 14-12 loss to Wales in the Wellington Plate Semi-final. Yet Director of Rugby Ilivasi Tabua anticipates his side will come up with a much improved performance in San Diego.

They will be out for revenge when meeting Wales once again in Pool C with unknown quantity Mexico and the dangerous Pumas from Argentina making up the group. However, Tabua said the exposure of new players at Wellington would have helped.

"Most of the young and new players will have adjusted to playing in front of big crowds and the atmosphere," he said.

"This is a young side which we are building and from the exposure last week I believe they will put that into use in USA."

He said negative criticisms directed towards the team would not help the side as there needed to be a starting point.

"It is not only turning to the old hands but we need to fine tune and produce new talent to take over. This is what we are doing and at the same time building for the future, every team does that."

Halfback Peni Rokodiva was one of the Wellington positives for Tabua, constantly looking dangerous and improving game by game.

"He is a young energetic player who has come through the system and is adapting well."