Following a string of injuries during last weekend’s HSBC SVNS stop in Hong Kong, four changes to the USA Men’s Sevens touring squad have been named, including Perry Baker who will join the roster as a reserve in Singapore. Baker has been traveling with the team as a coach for the SVNS tour of Asia.
Baker’s spot-start will only be for the Singapore competition, having come immediately after team injuries in Hong Kong. Alongside Baker, Porter Goodrum, Peter Sio Jr and Ryan Santos - who returns from Cambridge will travel out to meet up with the team, replacing Stephen Tomasin, Faitala Talapusi, David Still and Adam Channel who have been ruled out with injuries.
Head coach Simon Amor commented:
“It’s been a very challenging situation with injuries but has given us an opportunity to develop our perseverance and fight through adversity. I’m really proud of the effort the guys have put in so far and look forward to seeing more of that in Singapore. It’s great to get Peter Sio Jr and Porter Goodrum out here. They debuted earlier this season and it’s a great opportunity for them to grow in the USA Sevens jersey. Ryan Santos hasn’t trained with the squad yet this year, so we’ll be throwing him a bit into the deep end but we know he is a big athletic player, a great team player, and we have high hopes for him in the future.
"Perry has been named to the squad - but will only be used if we pick up further injuries and we are down playable numbers, so he likely won't run out. He is an assistant coach first and foremost and he’s focused on developing the players and using his skills in a coaching capacity. It’s great to have his experience here and he’s learning and developing so much as a coach.”
The HSBC Singapore SVNS stop kicks off April 5-6 and can be streamed live on rugbypass.tv.
