Oli Mathis of Waikato scores during the Waikato v Northland NPC match. Photo: Mark Taylor/ActionPress
All Blacks Sevens coach Tomasi Cama has selected Oli Mathis for his first international sevens tournament.
Mathis' form for Waikato, in which he featured at loose forward and on the wing, was an eye-catching highlight of the competition, and his addition to the squad makes up for the recent departure of Moses Leo to the NRL.
Elsewhere, senior players include Dylan Collier, Joe Webber and Sione Molia, all who have more than 50 caps for the team.
There has been a bit of an experience exodus with Tim Mikkelson, Scott Curry and Sam Dickson all retiring after this year's disappointing Olympic campaign.
Cama said Mathis and fellow debutants Sofai Maka and Joey Taumateine have exciting potential.
"As coaches it excites us to bring young people in and help with their growth. They have to learn fast, but that is all part of the excitement."
Mathis starred in the New Zealand Schools team in 2023 before an impressive debut season for Waikato.
"We had a training run against Hamilton Boys' High School last year and that is where we first saw Oli. He went on to have a great season for Waikato, so we brought him in to train with us. He is eager to learn and loves sevens so we are excited with his speed and physicality, what he will bring to the team."
Sofai Maka. Photo: Dave Rowland/Photosport
Maka has played NPC for both Auckland and North Harbour and previously played in the Blues Under 20s.
"Sofai has the potential to become a great sevens player. We saw in the NPC he makes a lot of line breaks, scores a lot of tries; he understands the game well and with a few injuries in our midfield he gets his opportunity."
Taumateine was a member of the New Zealand Under 18 Sevens team last year, and earlier this year travelled to France with the New Zealand Men's Development team.
"I've been lucky enough to spend a bit of time in our sevens schools' environment the last few years. Joey is the most recent of a number of players who have come through that pathway. He has great speed and footwork for a prop which will be his point of difference."
Willie Rickards. Photo: Chris Symes/Photosport
Another new face to the All Blacks Sevens is assistant coach Willie Rickards, who is actually returning, having played eight tournaments in the black jersey between 2006 and 2009.
"We played together, and my main memory of Willie is he works hard. His work ethic is what sevens is all about, especially in this team. His ability to teach is going to accelerate the growth and learning of our players and he has a real mana about the way he approaches his role," Cama said.
"We've talked a lot about connecting to our DNA. This team is about hard work, that will be the foundation that allows us to play a brand of rugby we all love; exciting, free playing, unstructured. That's what we want to go out there to do."
All Blacks Sevens squad for the Dubai tournament, 30 November - 1 December
Dylan Collier (c), Jayden Keelan, Andrew Knewstubb, Oli Mathis (debut), Sofai Maka (debut), Ngarohi McGarvey-Black, Sione Molia, Tone Ng Shiu, Lewis Ormond, Brady Rush, Joey Taumateine (debut), Codemeru Vai, Joe Webber
Unavailable due to injury: Regan Ware, Amanaki Nicole, Kitiona Vai, Roderick Solo, Akuila Rokolisoa, Xavier Tito-Harris
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