Rugby sevens: Curtis and Waaka return for All Blacks Sevens

All Blacks Sevens player Ambrose Curtis.

Ambrose Curtis and Beaudein Waaka return to the All Blacks Sevens squad named for the Las Vegas and Vancouver legs of the HSBC World Series.

Joe Webber, Sam Dickson, Lewis Ormond, Teddy Stanaway and Rocky Khan were all unavailable for selection due to injury, while Regan Ware's name is also missing from the 14.

Curtis, who last started for the All Black Sevens in 2015, having 17 tournaments to his credit, played for the Maori All Blacks on their Northern Hemisphere tour at the end of last year and has been on a training contract with the Blues over the summer. He appeared in the Brisbane Tens less than a fortnight ago.

Waaka last appeared for New Zealand at the Dubai leg of the World Series in December.

"It's great to have a largely settled squad to take to North America. The new players who debuted in the Wellington and Sydney tournaments have impressed thus far, so it's good to keep giving them game time and experience," said All Blacks Sevens head coach Scott Waldrom.

"The team lifted their performance in Sydney after a disappointing tournament in Wellington. We showed in Sydney that we can compete against the top teams in the series, but in order for us to win Las Vegas we have to maintain our consistency.

"As always with this sevens series, pool play has its challenges. Russia won the Challenge Trophy in Sydney, Argentina beat us in Wellington and Kenya is always an exciting team to play against. We won't be taking any of the matches for granted. We also face the challenge of a three-day tournament which we haven't had before in this series."

Schedule for All Blacks Sevens pool play:
(The tournament follows the Olympics schedule with two games a day spread over three days)

Saturday March 4
2:15pm NZT v Kenya
5:14 pm NZT v Russia

Sunday March 5
11.36am NZT v Argentina
First round of playoffs

Monday March 6
Finals day

The team is:
Scott Curry (Bay of Plenty, c), Dylan Collier (Southland), Ambrose Curtis (Manawatu),
DJ Forbes (Counties Manukau), Iopu Iopu-Aso (Taranaki), Trael Joass (Tasman), Andrew Knewstubb (Tasman), Vilimoni Koroi (Otago), Tim Mikkelson (Waikato), Sione Molia (Counties Manukau), Tone Ng Shiu (Tasman), Sherwin Stowers (Counties Manukau),
Isaac Te Tamaki (Waikato), Beaudein Waaka (Taranaki)