Former Rotorua Boys' High School student Ngarohi McGarvey-Black has been named to make his All Blacks Sevens debut this weekend.
McGarvey-Black was a standout at the national sevens tournament in Rotorua in January and was subsequently recruited to train in an All Blacks Sevens camp where he further impressed coaches.
All Blacks Sevens coach Clark Laidlaw said the team had prepared well for the Las Vegas leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series and were looking forward to starting the tournament.
"We think it's a strong team - a team that's got good strength and depth on the bench, with guys who will come in and make a difference," Laidlaw said.
He said McGarvey-Black was ready for his debut and they had great confidence in him, despite some obvious nerves.
"I think he's pretty excited and pretty nervous at the same time. He's preparing well, the guys are making him fit in well and feel welcome and helping him get up to speed on how we want to play the game. It's hard because it's a little bit earlier to play him than what he thought but we've got every confidence in him or we wouldn't have put him out there."
All Blacks Sevens team for the Las Vegas Leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series
Scott Curry (co-captain), Tim Mikkelson (co-captain), Trael Joass, Joe Ravouvou, Dylan Collier, Vilimoni Koroi, Sam Dickson, Andrew Knewstubb, Regan Ware, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Ngarohi McGarvey-Black*, Sione Molia, Joe Webber. * On debut
