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England's John Brake ruled out of Dubai Sevens
Wednesday November 30, 2011
Issued by Simon Mills


John Brake appeared in the Gold Coast Sevens despite having broken a finger


England's John Brake has been ruled out of this week's second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Dubai.

The former Northampton Saints half-back sustained a broken finger in the build-up to the Gold Coast Sevens in Australia last weekend.

"John fractured a finger in training before last weekend's tournament," confirmed head coach Ben Ryan.

"He will remain with the squad and should be available for selection next week in Port Elizabeth."

England have reinforcements available after the arrival of Christian Lewis-Pratt and Simon Hunt, enabling Ryan to name a 13-man squad today. The group will be reduced by one before the Dubai Sevens takes place on Friday and Saturday.

On Day 1 England face Zimbabwe (07.54 GMT), Kenya (11.38) and France (15.52) in Pool C and their potential quarter final opponents on Day 2 are New Zealand and South Africa.

The series then moves on to a new venue - the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa - for a third tournament in three weeks.


England Sevens:
Greg Barden (captain), Chris Brightwell, Chris Cracknell, Isoa Damudamu (British Army), Simon Hunt, Christian Lewis-Pratt, Dan Norton, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Nick Royle, Mathew Turner, Rob Vickerman, Marcus Watson (Saracens).

England Sevens head coach Ben Ryan previews the build-up to the Dubai Sevens on Friday and Saturday, the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series

One tournament down, not the perfect start but plenty of positives for England to carry through to this weekend in Dubai. That’s not a losing coach clutching at straws but one who was obviously disappointed the side didn't win the opening leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series on the Gold Coast at the weekend. We were close to getting it right and winning our quarter final against New Zealand.

The opening leg of the series had quite a few changes. The draw was different, lots of new officials and five substitutions rather than three all gave the two days of competition a slightly different feel. It’s pretty clear a lot of resource has been put into all the different teams by their respective unions. Where once, full-time sevens players were a rare thing, now they seem commonplace and the standard again rises.

So, as we all swoop into Dubai, it’s a case of getting the team fully fit, having some good training sessions, looking at our performance and the opposition's and bouncing into the weekend.

Unfortunately John Brake fractured his hand two days before the Gold Coast Sevens. He managed to play through the weekend, but now needs to have a week off before Port Elizabeth, so he is unavailable this weekend.

Two other players, Dan Norton and Tom Powell, also suffered injuries on Day One, leaving us a bit light, but our medics have done a fine job and the players have been meticulous with their rehab, icing and so on, so that they both look 100 per cent this weekend.

We had always planned to fly in two other players so I now have 13 players to select a dozen from. That means the training has been competitive and the team have reacted really positively to last weekend.

Their response has been to learn from the things that didn’t go as well and keep improving on the good things to put us in a better place on Friday for our first pool match. That’s all you can ask for as a coach and I'm delighted with their attitude at the moment.

So, what our hopes this weekend? Well, Dubai has been good to us recently and in our last four visits here we have reached two finals and two semi finals. The support is fantastic and generally the conditions are near perfect with normally just one or two games in the very hottest parts of the weekend to contend with.

Our style is still evolving and certainly some of the pieces of how we play have yet to surface in any consistent manner on the field. It’s a simple yet different approach we want to take and really absolutely everything depends on great communication and decision making.

Those two critical areas in any team sports are ones you can really get your teeth into as coach and player with lots of small sided games and practices in training and as much of your programme on the field deliberately slanted towards game understanding.

It’s certainly going to be a long season and as we have seen already, it’s also not going to be all sweetness and light, but with 48 games to go and eight more tournaments to compete in, the series is only just beginning to crank into action. There is lots of time to make an impact and no better place than Dubai to give us some momentum.

Yahoo! Its the Dubai 7's weekend!

We are of course ready and waiting for tomorrow morning and will be there from the beginning til the end.

Anyone else from this site over for the 7's?

Enjoy

Steve DXB

England Sevens make two changes to Dubai side
Thursday December 1, 2011
Issued by Simon Mills

Christian Lewis-Pratt will make his first international appearance and Simon Hunt returns to the squad as England prepare to defend their Dubai Sevens title.

The two changes to the 12-man group see debutant Lewis-Pratt, 20, take over from the injured John Brake (broken finger) while Hunt, 30, replaces Chris Brightwell.

England go into the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series looking to improve on their performance at the Gold Coast Sevens, when they were beaten by New Zealand at the quarter final stage and picked up 10 series points.

The Dubai tournament kicks off tomorrow with England facing Zimbabwe (07.54 GMT), Kenya (11.38) and France (15.52) in Pool B. The potential quarter final opponents on Saturday are South Africa or New Zealand.

Lewis-Pratt signed full-time with England Sevens from Leeds Carnegie in June and makes his debut after recovering from a pre-season ankle injury.

Head coach Ben Ryan said: “Christian deserves his chance and while he won’t have the fitness of the other lads due to lack of matches we’ll slowly ease him into things.

“It’s good to have him back. He’s a great kicker, good distributor, he’s a threat and he tackles well so I’m sure he’ll enjoy his first tournament.”

Hunt returns to the ground where he scored key tries in last year’s triumph, including a last-play winner against Fiji on the first evening and one within moments of taking the field as a replacement in the final.

His return gives England an experienced edge – their 12-man squad includes eight of those who lifted the title after that 29-21 win against Samoa.

Ryan added: “It was a tough call but he can play in the forwards or the backs and he’s a good impact player. He’s fresh, as is Christian, so there’s a bit of energy to add to the group.

“It’s good to have his experience there and that boosts the number of players who have won tournaments for England which is important in a high pressure tournament like Dubai. If they can keep their heads this weekend there’s no reason we can’t do very well.”




England Squad: Greg Barden (captain), Chris Cracknell, Isoa Damudamu (British Army), Simon Hunt, Christian Lewis-Pratt, Dan Norton, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Nick Royle, Mathew Turner, Rob Vickerman, Marcus Watson (Saracens)

Norton reaches try landmark for England Sevens
Friday December 2, 2011
Issued by Simon Mills

Dan Norton reached his half-century of tries on the HSBC Sevens World Series as England cut loose to beat Zimbabwe 43-0 on the opening morning of the Dubai Sevens.

The former Gloucester and Bristol wing scored the first two of England’s seven tries taking his career tally to 51 in his 18thtournament.

Norton, England’s leading scorer last season with 32, also created a third for skipper Greg Barden immediately after the interval.

Head coach Ben Ryan’s side then ran riot in the second half with replacements Nick Royle, Christian Lewis-Pratt - on his debut - Simon Hunt and Tom Powell all touching down.

Marcus Watson (2), Norton and Lewis-Pratt supplied the conversions.

England face Kenya (11.38 GMT) and France (15.52) later today with the knock-out stages to come tomorrow.

England Sevens cruise past Kenya and Zimbabwe
Friday December 2, 2011
Issued by Simon Mills

Dan Norton passed his half-century of tries in the HSBC Sevens World Series as England battled through their opening two games at the Dubai Sevens.

They beat Zimbabwe 43-0 on the tournament’s opening morning, then had to work harder to see off Kenya 19-12 to make sure of a quarter final place.

Former Gloucester and Bristol wing Norton took his tally to 51 in 18 tournaments with a brace against Zimbabwe with skipper Greg Barden and replacements Nick Royle, Christian Lewis-Pratt – on debut – Simon Hunt and Tom Powell all touching down.

England’s finishing was less sharp against Kenya but they were cruising at 19-5 up following two tries from Mathew Turner and one from James Rodwell before Willy Ambaka Ndayara’s late effort made for a tense final minute.

They now face France in the final Pool C match at 15.52 GMT today to determine the identity of tomorrow's quarter final opponents – likely to be either New Zealand or South Africa.

England are also competing in the IRB’s eight-team women’s tournament and their young side enjoyed an encouraging start to Day 1.

A team with an average age of just 21 beat China 26-15 in their opening game with a hat-trick of tries from Michaela Staniford (Wasps) and another score from Lydia Thompson (Worcester).

Thompson then snatched a late winner in a 22-19 victory over South Africa when England trailed despite having built up a 17-0 first half lead with Worcester’s Jo Watmore scoring two tries and another Staniford strike.

Norton hat-trick powers England into Dubai Sevens quarter finals
Friday December 2, 2011
Issued by Simon Mills

Dan Norton provided the finishing firepower as England completed a clean sweep on day one of the Dubai Sevens.

The former Gloucester and Bristol winger, sidelined after picking up an injury in last weekend’s Gold Coast Sevens, scored five tries as England dispatched Zimbabwe 43-0, Kenya 19-12 and France 29-12 to book a quarter final date with New Zealand tomorrow.

Norton touched down twice against Zimbabwe and his hat-trick against France took his career tally to 54 in the HSBC Sevens World Series, fifth on England’s all-time list.

“Dan’s demanding the ball on the wing, all our forwards are winning great possession and when he gets the ball in space he’s lethal,” said head coach Ben Ryan.

“With New Zealand we know they’ll always play well against us and we’ll really have to be on our mettle in the quarter final.

“As a side we’re not quite clicking but we are slowly getting there and when we keep the ball we’re threatening everywhere.”

Norton took his tally past the half-century mark 18 tournaments with a brace against Zimbabwe with skipper Greg Barden and replacements Nick Royle, Christian Lewis-Pratt – on his debut – Simon Hunt and Tom Powell all touching down.

England’s finishing was less sharp against Kenya but they were cruising at 19-5 up following two tries from Mathew Turner and one from James Rodwell before Willy Ambaka Ndayara’s late effort made for a tense final minute.

The crunch game against an improving France team was tied 12-12 at the break after Turner and Norton’s efforts were cancelled out by Manoel Dall Igna and Terry Bouhraoua.

But they dominated every area – particularly in contact and in keeping the ball alive – after the interval with Norton striking twice and substitute Nick Royle finishing the job.

England’s Women are competing in the IRB’s eight-team women’s tournament and their young side enjoyed an outstanding first day.

The senior side are 2-0 up in a test series against New Zealand and a young sevens team demonstrated the depth of talent in the English game by completing a clean sweep by beating China 26-15, South Africa 22-19 and the USA 31-0.

England beat China with a hat-trick of tries from Michaela Staniford (Wasps) and another score from Lydia Thompson (Worcester).

Thompson then snatched a late winner in a 22-19 victory over South Africa when England trailed despite having built up a 17-0 first half lead with Worcester’s Jo Watmore scoring two tries and another Staniford strike.

On paper the USA were favourites in the final game but they never got their hands on the ball as Staniford – who joined the side after appearing in the 15-a-side tests – touched down twice.

Saracens’ Leanne Riley, 18, added two more tries out wide, Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol) finished things off and Sarah McKenna (Wasps) added three conversions.

They now face Australia in Saturday's semi final stage.

England beat New Zealand to reach Dubai semi final
Saturday December 3, 2011
Issued by Simon Mills

England powered into the semi finals of the Dubai Sevens by hanging on to beat HSBC Sevens World Series champions New Zealand 10-7 today.

Dan Norton’s sensational second half score and Mat Turner’s quick-thinking first half effort enabled them to come from 7-0 down after Tomasi Cama had struck early on.

The victory was England’s first over New Zealand since they won on the way to claiming the title here last year and sends them into a semi final with Gold Coast champions Fiji at 13.02 GMT.

England had opted to stick to the same starting line-up that saw off Zimbabwe (43-0), Kenya (19-12) and France (29-12) on the tournament’s first day.

They dominated the opening stages and troubled New Zealand at the breakdown throughout the game but the champions broke tackles and created the opening for Cama to score and convert.

England hit back before the break with Barden driving up the middle, winning a penalty at the breakdown with Turner seizing the initiative by sprinting in from half-way.

The tight contest was settled midway through the second half after a lineout win with the ball moved wide for former Gloucester and Bristol wing Norton to accelerate outside the cover to score his sixth try in four games.

England camped in the opposition half for the remainder of the game, then kept their heads in defence when New Zealand tried and failed to rescue something from the final play of the game.

England beat France in a fine Cup final 29-12 to defend the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens title they won the same time last year and delight the ex-pat crowd at The Sevens stadium.

In doing so they climb to second in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings, seven points behind Gold Coast champions Fiji. Three nations, New Zealand, France and South Africa, lie three points adrift of England ahead of round 3 in Port Elizabeth next weekend.



The defending champions reached a second successive Dubai Sevens Cup final after beating Fiji 19-12 thanks to tries from Isoa Damu (2) and Mat Turner, whilst Renaud Delmas scored twice for Les Bleus in their 24-5 victory against Argentina to reach a first Cup final since the 2005 Paris Sevens.

Last week's Cup winners Fiji defeated Argentina in sudden death extra time in the Bronze final as Livai Ikanikoda scored his second of the match to secure the victory.

Lewis Holland scored with the last play of the Plate final to beat South Africa 17-14 whilst Andrew Turnbull was the difference in the Bowl final, scoring a hat trick to inspire Scotland to a 26-0 victory against USA. Samoa defeated Kenya to lift the Shield.

England Sevens triumph in Dubai final
Saturday December 3, 2011
Issued by Simon Mills

England are Dubai Sevens champions again after beating France 29-12 in the final of the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series.



A superb second day performance saw Ben Ryan’s side overpower New Zealand 10-7 and Fiji 19-12 before a superb first half display in the final that ultimately clinched the title.



Isoa Damudamu – whose two tries sank Fiji in the semi final – struck early on then Dan Norton’s chip and chase and two touchdowns for Mat Turner put them 24-7 up at the interval and almost out of sight.



But France wing Renaud Delmas scored his second try early in the second half and France enjoyed long spells on top before England escaped to the other end of the field and Rob Vickerman pounced to see them safely home.



Earlier England opened up by beating Series champions New Zealand – then raised their game again against Fiji, who had won the opening leg of the series in Gold Coast.

Fijian-born centre Damudamu provided two vital tries in the first half after Emosi Vucago had opened the scoring for the islanders.

Turner then stretched the lead with a burst from the breakdown but England had to dig deep after Osea Kolinisau struck from long range and scramble for all they were worth in defence.

Earlier Turner and Norton edged them past New Zealand – England’s first win over the champions since their Dubai triumph of a year ago.

Norton’s sensational second half score – his sixth of the tournament – and Turner’s quick-thinking first half effort enabled them to come from 7-0 down after Tomasi Cama had struck early on.

On the opening day England saw off Zimbabwe (43-0), Kenya (19-12) and France (29-12), with Norton’s hat-trick in the final match sending them through as Pool C leaders.