All Blacks Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens has named two Bay of Plenty players in his squad of 14 players for the first two tournaments of the 2015/16 HSBC Sevens World Series.

Papamoa's Scott Curry has been named captain and Teddy Stanaway have been selected to play in the Dubai Sevens on December 4 and 5 and the Cape Town Sevens on December 12 and 13.

Teddy Stanaway in action for the All Blacks Sevens. Photo: Greg Taipari.

Scott who has been nursing a hamstring injury told SunLive he was confident he would be fit for the two tournaments while it has been a great comeback from Teddy who has been out of all rugby this season due to concussion concerns.

The team leaves for Dubai on Sunday and Gordon says the thinking behind taking 14 players was to provide further incentive for all players to push for places in the final 12.

'It's for all those players to put pressure on others at training. Knowing you're not in the starting 12 you can get complacent and lose focus. I want pressure put on every individual in all the teams we name throughout the year.”

'For training it's great to have two teams of sevens up against each which again creates more competition.” All Blacks and Chiefs halfback Augustine Pulu is set for a possible debut. Gordon has been impressed with how quickly he has adapted to sevens having not played the shortened game before.

'He's a fine rugby player. He's come on in leaps and bounds in the time he has been with us. The improvement has been immense this week. This is a great opportunity for him to put his hand up to have a crack at other teams this season.

'He's got very good vision. He's quick off the mark. He's quick to sport a gap. He's going to keep teams honest and he's very strong and physical.”

He had high praise for Waikato speedster Regan Ware as well.

'He's the quickest player in the team. He's a great defender and attacker. It's important we have a player like Regan out wide who can score tries from out of nothing, beating a man one-on-one so he's a good player to have in the squad.”

Dubai has not been a happy hunting ground for the All Blacks Sevens in recent years, but Gordon says the team was determined to start this critical new season well.

'I have set a goal for this team; let's go and win Dubai. Let's give it our best shot. We may or may not win, but I'd like to think we come out of this tournament with distinction, that we are on the improve. We have prepared well. We have planned well. Now we have to perform. An injury free side, no excuses really and ready to perform.”

The travelling squad is: Dylan Collier, Scott Curry, Sam Kickson, DJ Forbes, Tim Mikkelson, Declan O'Donnell, Lewis Ormond, Augustine Pulu, Teddy Stanaway, Sherwin Stowers, Isaac Te Tamaki, Beaudein Waaka, Regan Ware, Joe Webber.