Injury to several players in the Vodafone Fiji 7s team will open up the door of opportunity for uncapped players in the extended squad.

Viliame Mata and Apisai Domolailai have been ruled out of the Las Vegas and Vancouver 7s with injuries and Pio Tuwai is in doubt as he recovers from food poisoning while Semi Kunatani has returned to club rugby in France.

Coach Ben Ryan says this dilemma comes as a blessing in disguise as it allows him to trial some of the new players, with the bigger picture on the Rio Olympics in August.

“If suddenly we get to London and Paris and I haven’t played enough boys this season and we get injuries; we don’t want to be in a situation where we’re giving new caps in the Olympic Games so I need to give a chance to some of the boys who are playing domestically.”

Ryan has already hinted that two new caps could be named in the final 12-member squad to the Las Vegas and Vancouver 7s.

Fiji is grouped with Argentina, Samoa and France in the Las Vegas 7s, which will be held on March 5th-8th at Sam Boyd Stadium.