The USA Men's 7s team looks to the Hong Kong 7s to kick off the 2022-2023 World Series, and will do so with a very young and mostly inexperienced team.

The iconic Hong Kong 7s, normally held in late March, has not been held at all since 2019 because of COVID shutdowns. However, it's back, for this November.

It's a new date for the Hong Kong 7s Tournament, and a new experience for eight of the 13 players. Injured or unavailable are captain Kevon Williams, vice captain Stephen Tomasin, and experienced players Maka Unufe, Joe Schroeder, Naima Fuala’au, and Faitala Talapusi.

Folau Niua is also not included and Carlin Isles remains on sabbatical. So now young players are on the squad. Lucas LaCamp has exams, and Jake Lachina won't be traveling either.

Recent Cal Bear grad Sam Walsh is named along with Indiana stars Noah Brown (Penn HS) and Will Chevalier (Neuqua HS). Brown and Chevalier both recently competed with the USA U23s at RugbyTown 7s, and before that were part of the Chicago Lions.

“This has been an insanely quick turnaround following the completion of last season," said USA Head Coach Mike Friday. "As a program, we have been going nonstop for a year and we need to maintain focus entering this big nine month period and Olympic qualifying year. What lies ahead for this developing group is a huge challenge, so patience and perspective are paramount. However, the drive, determination and commitment to get better burns brightly in this group. We are all aware of the corner we’re in for this opening leg. With significant veteran experience currently recovering from injury and the rearranged tournament coming a month too soon for us. To be missing the majority of our leaders in Kevon, Joe and Stevie, further compounded by Maka, Naima and Tala not yet in a position to be considered for selection, puts us in a tough spot."

Perry Baker will captain the side. He has been appeared in 56 World Series events. The rest of the squad has appeared in 86. Only Maceo Brown has more than 20 appearances on his record. 

The Eagles are in a workable pool, however, with Spain and Japan their first two games. If they beat those two—no guarantee—they should be in the Quarterfinals. The final pool match will be against Rugby World Cup 7s winners Fiji. 

The schedule (all times US Eastern Time) for the USA on the first day is:

Friday, November 4
USA vs Spain | 4:28 AM ET
USA vs Japan | 11:50 PM ET

Saturday, November 5
USA vs Fiji | 4:00 AM ET

All games live on Peacock