By Kath
November 12 2010

England will kick off the HSBC Sevens World Series against France on the morning of December 3. Head coach Ben Ryan’s side have been drawn against France, Portugal and Fiji in Pool D of the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens.

Ollie Lindsay-Hague in action last season

England Sevens make just one change to their side for the first two legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins) comes into the 12-man squad in place of Kevin Barrett (Saracens) for the Emirates Airline Dubai and South Africa Sevens tournaments.

England take the field in Dubai on December 3-4 and in George on December 10-11, the first two of the eight tournaments this season.

The remaining 11 players in head coach Ben Ryan’s squad appeared at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last month, when England beat Australia and world champions Samoa but were edged into fourth place by South Africa in the bronze medal match.

The side is led by Sevens legend Ben Gollings, the 30-year-old playmaker who will be looking to add to his world record Series haul of 2,374 points.

Ryan said: “Ollie did well for us last year, particularly at Hong Kong and has been going well for Quins this season. He deserves his chance and will add a bit of an X-factor to the side.

“I’m really plased to be able to keep the squad together and only be making one change going into Dubai, and although every side wants to make a strong start to the HSBC Sevens World Series we’ve got a good chance.

“We’ve reached two semis and a final there in the last three years so we’ve been in the mix and there’s always huge support there for England and a really vibrant atmosphere.”

England take on Fiji, France and Portugal in Pool D on the opening day at Dubai with the pool winners likely to face Australia or South Africa in the quarter finals.

At George, England are in Pool C with Commonwealth Games gold medallists New Zealand, Kenya and Russia.

England Sevens Squad
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)

HSBC Sevens World Series dates
December 3-4: Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens
December 10-11: Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens, George
February 4-5: NZI Sevens, Wellington
February 12-13: USA Sevens, Las Vegas
March 25-27: Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens
April 2-3: International Rugby Sevens Adelaide
May 21-22: Emirates Airline London Sevens
May 28-29: Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens