Commonwealth Games Sevens
All Blacks bolster New Zealand Sevens
Scrum.com
August 3, 2010
New Zealand Maori winger Hosea Gear on the burst, New Zealand Maori v England, McLean Park, Napier, New Zealand, June 23, 2010
Hosea Gear will represent New Zealand Sevens at the Commonwealth Games © Getty Images
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New Zealand Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens has named four All Blacks in his squad for the Commonwealth Games in October.

The Delhi games will see Tietjens' men out to defend their title after picking up gold in Melbourne four years ago. Hosea Gear, fresh from a starring role with the New Zealand Maori, Hawke's Bay wing Zac Guildford, Otago utility Ben Smith and flanker Adam Thomson are the four Test names in the mix, with the other eight spots filled by players from this season's IRB Sevens World Series, including experienced skipper DJ Forbes.

"My core national squad members have really proved themselves during the World Series and have all earned their spots in this team," Tietjens said. "We have also been lucky enough to be able to add to that with high calibre and experienced players."

Wellington's Julian Savea, recently named IRB Under-20 Player of the Year, and Bay of Plenty's Solomon King have been named as the standby players and will attend a camp in Auckland on August 23-24 before travelling with the squad to Dubai on October 1. The defending champions have been drawn in Pool A alongside Scotland, Canada and Guyana.

New Zealand: Toby Arnold (Bay of Plenty), Kurt Baker (Taranaki), Tomasi Cama (Manawatu), DJ Forbes (Counties-Manukau, capt), Hosea Gear (Wellington), Zac Guildford (Hawke's Bay), Tim Mikkelson (Waikato), Lote Raikabula (Manawatu), Ben Smith (Otago), Ben Souness (Taranaki), Sherwin Stowers (Counties-Manukau), Adam Thomson (Otago)

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