Mike Friday England Sevens Head Coach has announced England's 7s Core Squad and wider squad for the IRB World Sevens Series.

Photo © of KentSarrie

The players and management have their sights set on the “double”, aiming to win the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong next March and follow in the footsteps of England’s Rugby World Cup Champions who triumphed in Australia in November 2003. 

England’s success in the 7's has increased significantly in recent years and now they are ranked second by the IRB.   Last June the Sevens squad successfully defended their IRB Emirates London Sevens title at Twickenham and were runners up in the eight match IRB World Sevens series behind New Zealand for the second consecutive year. 

Simon Amor of Gloucester will captain the squad, his third season at the helm, and he can rely on the lightening speed of Rob Thirlby of Penzance & Newlyn and the skills of Geoff Appleford of London Irish by his side. Eighteen year old Mathew Tait of Newcastle Falcons is one of the most exciting young players to emerge in the Zurich Premiership, has also been named in the core squad.

The eight players named today in the core squad will be available for all seven tournaments in the 2004-2005 IRB World Sevens Series. Mike Friday can also call on any of the 26 man wider squad, which includes five Elite Player Squad nominated players,  for a minimum of four of the tournaments in the IRB series. 

Mike had this to say about his selection:-

"I’m excited at the prospect of seeing young English talent such as Mathew Tait line up alongside players with established pedigrees in sevens such as Geoff Appleford, Tony Roques and of course Simon Amor, who has been chosen as captain again for our 2004/2005 campaign. 

“No country has ever done the double and followed success in the Rugby World Cup with winning the Rugby World Cup Sevens so it’s a terrific goal for England to aim for.

“When it comes to selecting for the World Cup in March, I will be going for the best 12 players not just the sevens core and wider squads, so those not included at the moment still have a chance of selection.

“England Sevens offers young players such as Peter Richards of London Wasps vital support as they push for international recognition. We have already seen how Ugo Monye of NEC Harlequins has impressed the England coaches by his Sevens performances. He’s now achieved selection to the Elite Player Squad for this season and there’s no doubt sevens is the ideal platform to achieve this transition

ENGLAND 7's CORE SQUAD 2004/2005  

Simon Amor, Gloucester (Captain)
Geoff Appleford, London Irish
James Brooks,  London Wasps
Topsy Ojo, London Irish
Peter Richards, London Wasps
Ben T Russell, Saracens
Mathew Tait,    Newcastle Falcons
Rob Thirlby,     Penzance & Newlyn  

ENGLAND 7's WIDER SQUAD FOR IRB WORLD SEVENS SERIES  

Bath -   Andrew Higgins, Chris Goodman
Gloucester - James Bailey, Olly Morgan, Will Matthews
Leeds Tykes -  Chris Bell, Rob Vickerman
Leicester Tigers - Dan Hipkiss, Tom Varndell
London Irish -  Tony Roques, Delon Armitage
London Wasps - James Haskell, Mike Roberts
NEC Harlequins - Ugo Monye, Kai Horstmann
Newcastle Falcons - Phil Dowson , Ollie Phillips
Northampton Saints -Neil Starling, Andrew Vilk
Sale Sharks - Chris Mayor, James Moore
Saracens - Richard Haughton, Ben Skirving, Joe Bedford
Worcester Warriors - Pat Sanderson,   Martin Freeman  

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