Southern winger Josh Gordon has come in from the wilderness to make the New Zealand sevens squad and is in line to make his debut in the black jersey next week in Wellington.
Gordon (20) has never played for Otago and did not play a full season for the Southern side in club rugby last year.
But he was picked for the Otago sevens side late last year and played well at the regional qualifying tournament in Timaru and then the national tournament in Rotorua earlier this month.
His speed and bulk made him difficult to handle and he was one of the more impressive players for Otago, which lost in the semifinals.
Gordon attended Palmerston North Boys' High School. After leaving there he went to England for a year for some time out and to get his body right, as he had two knee operations when he was at school.
He returned to New Zealand and came south early last year to study at the University of Otago, heading to Bathgate Park to play his first year of premier club rugby for Southern.
He played 13 games for Southern, showing some speed on the wing.
Gordon is one of four new caps in the 16-man squad named for the Wellington and the Las Vegas legs of the World Sevens series.
Other newcomers are Waikato's Dylan Collier, a former Auckland Warriors junior, Auckland's Rieko Ioane, who has just finished at Auckland Grammar, and Taranaki inside back Beaudein Waaka.
Experienced players such as DJ Forbes, Tim Mikkelson and Sherwin Stowers have been selected in the squad, while Tomasi Cama earns a recall.
Players will train in Mount Maunganui over the next few days before the squad is reduced to 12 for the Wellington event.
The tournament in Las Vegas is the weekend after the Wellington competition.
