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England Sevens urged to prove Dubai win wasn't a one-off
Thursday December 9, 2010
Issued by Simon Mills


England captain Ben Gollings lifts the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens trophy


England Sevens coach Ben Ryan wants his players to show their triumph at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens was more than a one-off.

England won the first leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series in dramatic style, coming from behind to win four successive games and clinching the title in front of 50,000 fans with a 29-21 victory over Samoa.

This week the series moves to George in South Africa where England face Russia, Kenya and New Zealand in Friday’s pool games. South Africa and Argentina are the likely quarter final opponents for the group winners and runners-up.

In the history of the series England have never won back-to-back tournaments but Ryan is confident his squad can take on the challenge.

“You’ve got to celebrate your successes and we did well in Dubai but we’ve got to build on that now,” he said. “England have never won back-to-back tournaments in 11 years, so we’ve got the opportunity to make a bit of history.

“I reckon we were probably at 70 per cent of our potential last week. We’ve got the chance now to improve in certain areas and we can all see what we need to improve and build on. Doing that is the next big challenge. It’s up to us to take our performance to another level in George.”

Captain Ben Gollings contributed 44 points to extend his world record tally to 2,418. England’s younger players – led by Ollie Lindsay-Hague with five tries – all made an impact and forwards like Isoa Damudamu, Chris Cracknell, Greg Barden and player of the tournament James Rodwell added an important physical element to the title win.

But moving their battered bodies 5,000 miles to brings more challenges for coaches keeping energy levels up as they prepare for another six games in two days – and arguably England have more testing pool opponents.

“We’ve got a really hard group,” Ryan said.

“We start with Russia, who are a very formidable side. They’ll definitely knock over a top team at some point and we don’t want it to be us.

“Kenya have good a lot of good players. Humphrey Kayange, Gibson Weru Kahuthia, Leon Adongo all have lots of experience. In Africa, it’s a different story playing against Kenya.

“They’ll have to beat one of us or New Zealand to get out of the pool so they’ll have a real crack at New Zealand and then at us. They’ve beaten us in George in the group stages in the past and we daren’t underestimate them.

“New Zealand won’t have enjoyed being beaten by us and will want to hit straight back. The challenge this week is to show Dubai was not a one-off win.”

England squad for Dubai and George:
Greg Barden (Royal Navy)
John Brake (England Sevens)
Dan Caprice (England Sevens)
Chris Cracknell(England Sevens)
Isoa Damudamu (British Army)
Ben Gollings (England Sevens)
Simon Hunt (Birmingham & Solihull)
Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins)
Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby)
Tom Powell (England Sevens)
James Rodwell (England Sevens)
Mathew Turner (England Sevens)


Click here to see highlights of England's Dubai victory



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:12:09:14:35:11 by England 7s News:.

Rodwell reaping rewards of sevens switch with England
Thursday December 9, 2010
Issued by Simon Mills


James Rodwell in action against Fiji in the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens


James Rodwell and his teammates are reaping the rewards of becoming England’s first full-time sevens players this season.

The back row forward left Moseley and committed himself to head coach Ben Ryan’s sevens programme in the summer, one of eight specialists – including sevens legend Ben Gollings – who were awarded contracts this season.

The immediate result was a series of promising performances but no medals when England contested the Commonwealth Games Sevens in Dubai.

That promise was translated into solid achievement when the HSBC Sevens World Series kicked off last weekend in Dubai, where England reeled off wins over Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and Samoa to take the title and Rodwell scooped up the giant Star of the Tournament trophy.

The challenge starts again this Friday, when England take on Russia, Kenya and New Zealand in the second leg of the series – the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens.

Rodwell’s most visible stellar moment in Dubai was the 26-year-old’s leap to win the ball from the restart in the final play of the game against Australia before releasing Dan Caprice to score the try that clinched a 24-21 win.

“When you get in those positions you still believe you can win every game,” said Rodwell. “You’ve just got to make the right decisions and do what you do in training.

“I made a decision to go with the Sevens this year which had a lot to do with the Commonwealth Games initially and I’m thoroughly enjoying the new set-up.

“Training together a lot more is really starting to show rewards. Probably we didn’t have the belief at the Commonwealth Games that we do now but we kept on working and improving at Dubai.

“It’s the first time I’ve been nominated for an award on the IRB circuit so it’s a big achievement. I’m never going to light up the world with my pace. I’m there do to the simple jobs and give the backs a chance.”

Head coach Ryan highlight’s the consistency of Rodwell’s all-round game and the quality of his decision-making and execution.

“For James and a lot of our forwards it’s about doing the basics and the simple things but that undersells what the simple things are,” said Ryan.

“Decision making is important. Against Australia he had to make exactly the right decision and then execute well. That’s often undervalued. Considering we had a number of very good individual performances it was good to see that he was chosen for that accolade.”

Now England have the chance to claim back-to-back titles for the first time in the 11-year history of the series and put themselves in a strong position when the tour moves on to Wellington and Las Vegas in the New Year.

“It was England’s first win in Dubai since 2005 and more importantly it’s the first title win for a new bunch of players,” added Rodwell. “Last year we were a new squad, inexperienced, and didn’t get further than the semis in any tournaments so it’s satisfying to get to to a final but also to win it. Things didn’t start well but then we showed a lot of character.

“When we won at Wellington in 2009 we went straight on to the next final in San Diego and couldn’t quite convert. We gave it our best shot but came up short. We’ve got a tough group in George but I hope we can take the confidence on and make another step forward.

“There’s still more to come in my view. We’ve watched the games from Dubai, analysed things, and we made mistakes in each game that cost us. If we can put some of these right we’ll start to get stronger and stronger, so I’m looking forward to getting back on the pitch at the weekend.”

England Sevens book quarter final place in George

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