Argentina captain Gomez Cora doesn't see his team as the defending champions at the USA 7s that kicks off tomorrow, but rather he prefers to come in as underdogs.

Cora said that last year they won the tournament in San Diego, and this is a new tournament, in a new city and they have a new team.

Cora adds pressure will be on them to perform after a tournament in Wellington where they failed to play to their potential.

Argentina were champions in 2004 in LA, and again in 2009 in San Diego, what will happen on Monday afternoon is anyone's guess!

Cora has set his sights for two more seasons, rugby is his sole focus, and he is also the CEO of the Argentine Players Association.

Argentina's first game is against Japan.

On the other hand, New Zealand 7s coach Gordon Tietjens must roll the dice on a couple of key selection issues that could dictate their success at the USA 7s tournament starting tomorrow morning.

After winning the two opening tournaments of the International Rugby Board series in Dubai and South Africa, New Zealand bowed out in the semifinals of the Wellington tournament last weekend.

The nature of his team's listless loss to Samoa will have moved Tietjens into planning overdrive ahead of the first IRB tournament ever hosted in the United States gambling capital.

Some of the New Zealand players were blamed for poor performance in the semifinal loss, but Tietjens won't be making that mistake again, and will field all his big guns in the Pool games and also in the knockout stages.

New Zealand could face either Fiji or South Africa in the quarterfinals on Monday.

The USA 7s tournament starts tomorrow at 8am, with the opening match between New Zealand and France.

Fiji plays their first game against USA at 8:44am.