Curtis answers All Black Sevens call

Cape Town - New Zealand Sevens have named Ambrose Curtis in their squad for the upcoming World Rugby Sevens Series events in Las Vegas and Vancouver.

The speedster comes into an otherwise largely unchanged side from the one that finished third in Sydney at the beginning of the month.

Curtis, who last started for the All Black Sevens in 2015, 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 off-season.

"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 this 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."

Joe Webber, Sam Dickson, Lewis Ormond, Teddy Stanaway and Rocky Khan were unavailable for selection due to injury.

New Zealand Sevens squad

Scott Curry (c), Dylan Collier, Ambrose Curtis, DJ Forbes, Iopu Iopu-Aso, Trael Joass, Andrew Knewstubb, Vilimoni Koroi, Tim Mikkelson, Sione Molia, Tone Ng Shiu, Sherwin Stowers, Isaac Te Tamaki, Beaudein Waaka