The final squads of 12 have been declared by the 16 international coaches ahead of the Dubai Sevens, round two of the 2014/15 HSBC Sevens World Series to be played at 7he Sevens Stadium this weekend.
Simon Amor welcomes captain Tom Mitchell back from injury, while defending Dubai champions and current series leaders Fiji have nine players from the team that won in Australia, and also see the return of Nasoni Roko.
Australia, England, France, Portugal and Samoa are the five sides to not name any new players in their squads, with Les Bleus the most experienced of all sides with 256 events between them.
Here we look at seven players we believe you should look out for this weekend.
Tom Mitchell, England: The England captain returns from injury having watched his side finish third in Australia. The leadings points scorer from last season will be looking to pick up where he left off, in a season in which he was nominated for the sevens player of the year award, when he takes to the field in Dubai, looking for his first ever Cup title.
Warrick Gelant, South Africa: Gelant will be making his debut in Dubai for the Blitzboks, but captain Kyle Brown has been impressed by the Blue Bulls full-back and the ease in which he seems to play the game. With the likes of Brown and Frankie Horne, the most-experienced player in Dubai alongside him, Gelant could thrive on the fast pitch in Dubai.
Osea Kolinisau, Fiji: Possibly the best player on the series at the present time, and compared to Waisale Serevi by former New Zealand sevens captain Karl Tenana, Kolinisau comes into this round having picked up the player of the tournament award in Australia. The second top tackler to teammate Semi Kunatani and involved in all that was good with Fiji, Kolinisau will be central to Fiji’s title defence.
Tim Nanai-Williams, Samoa: Formerly of New Zealand, Nanai-Williams has put his hand up for Samoa this season with the Olympics in mind. A member of the Chiefs Super Rugby winning side, Nanai-Williams will bring a new dimension to an already firing Samoan squad that finished runners-up in Australia.
Ambrose Curtis, New Zealand: Curtis was named the first-ever rookie of the year at the end of last season but missed the first round in Australia where New Zealand finished outside of the top four for the first time since the 2011 Dubai Sevens. With plenty of pace and alongisde the experience of Kurt Baker, Gordon Tietjens has plenty of options out on the wing as the defending series champions look to gain lost ground on the leaders.
Aderito Esteves, Portugal: Esteves is set to make his 50th series appearance for Portugal this weekend, and what better place to do it on a ground where Portugal have had some of their biggest scalps. With 73 tries to his name so far, don’t be surprised to see him getting closer to that 100 mark by the end of the season.
Stephen Parez, France: France are the most experienced side in Dubai, but their second least experienced player Parez still has eight tournaments to his name. Thirteen tries and 11 conversions for Parez, he adds guile and skill to an already expansive French game as they look to reach another Dubai final having appeared in the 2011 title decider.
This year’s series will also double as part of the Olympic qualification process with the top four sides at the end of the nine rounds automatically qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
All of the matches from the Gold Coast will be broadcast live on television around the world and streamed live on worldrugby.org (some geo-blocking applies).
