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The coaches of all 16 national Sevens sides in Las Vegas have named their final squads of 12 for the USA Sevens on 10-12 February, with Welsh Six Nations squad member Harry Robinson flying in to join the Wales team.
Wales are one of 11 countries with a different line-up of players from round 4 in Wellington last week. Only England, Fiji and Argentina are unchanged, while Brazil and Uruguay arrive fresh.
Two players are nearing personal career milestones. Fiji's Emosi Vucago is three away from 100 tries in his World Series career, while Samoan Lolo Lui is now 24 points away from reaching 1,000.
North American rivals hone their Magic in Las Vegas
In the build-up to the USA Sevens, the fifth round of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Las Vegas, pool B rivals Canada and hosts USA were given an early chance to face off away from the pitch.
Brothers Ronald and Shalom Suniula from the US national team and Canadian World Cup pair Nathan Hirayama and Conor Trainor received a back stage pass into the world of magic with Comedy-Magician Mac King at his showroom inside Harrah's, Las Vegas.
During the visit, King amazed the players with his sleight-of-hand card tricks, and then taught the rugby quartet one of the manliest tricks he knows, which involves stabbing yourself in the eye with a fork.
Canada topped their pool at the fourth round of the World Series last weekend in Wellington, New Zealand, featuring captain Hirayama and wing Trainor, both of played at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand last year.
"It's nice playing in Vegas - of all the venues in the HSBC Sevens World Series, it's almost a home competition without being on Canadian soil, and we're hoping to do well," said Hirayama. "It's cool to be able to soak up a little of what Vegas is all about with the Mac King magic show. With all that Vegas is famous for, we hopefully won't get too distracted before the weekend but it's certainly pretty cool to be here."
"Nathan's got a pretty good sleight of hand with a rugby ball so should probably be pretty good," said Trainor, who scored two tries against the World Cup-winning All Blacks in 2011. "It was fun to try and learn some magic and head down to one of the famous Vegas shows, Mac King at Harrah's. The USA Sevens is always an enjoyable event, and it's great that the HSBC Sevens World Series can visit places like Las Vegas."
"I had a great time teaching the rugby players a few tricks that they can now use to impress their friends and family back home, and I wish everyone the best of luck in the tournament this weekend," said King, who is hailed by many as the premiere comedy-magician in the world today and has captivated more than a million audience members during his 12-year run in Las Vegas.
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