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Ben Spencer added to England Saxons squad following Micky Young citing
Tuesday January 24, 2012
Issued by Simon Mills

Ben Spencer (Saracens) has been added to the England Saxons squad training ahead of the match against O2 Ireland Wolfhounds at Exeter on January 28.

Spencer, 19, is named as a temporary injury replacement in the Saxons Elite Player Squad for London Irish hooker David Paice and has been called up as cover for Micky Young (Leicester Tigers) following a citing arising from the Heineken Cup match against Aironi on January 21.

RFU Regulation 19.5.2 does not permit a cited player “to play in an international or any other match governed by IRB Regulation 17 until the final determination of the case”.

England Saxons coach Jon Callard said: “We’ve discussed the matter with both Leicester and Saracens and felt we needed to act decisively by bringing in an extra scrum half as a precaution until the outcome of the case is known.”

Young is due to appear before an ERC disciplinary hearing on Friday, January 27.

Spencer, who is a member of the England Under 20 EPS, has made 19 first team appearances since joining Saracens from Cambridge last summer. He linked up with the Saxons squad training at Woodbury Park in Devon today.

England Sevens into Wellington quarter finals
Friday February 3, 2012
Issued by Simon Mills

England will face Tonga in the quarter finals of the Hertz Sevens in Wellington after cruising through today’s pool stages.

They beat the USA 29-0 and the Cook Islands 27-12 before resting players in the final game and suffering a 14-10 reverse against South Africa.

The played three, won two record means the Blitzbokke will face HSBC Sevens World Series leaders Fiji while England take on the Tongans at 03:55GMT tomorrow. The winners are likely to meet hosts New Zealand in the semi finals.

Former Gloucester wing Dan Norton took his try tally to 16 for the season with four more scores in his two outings and is third in the overall table behind teammate Mat Turner (17) and New Zealand’s Frank Halai (20).

And head coach Ben Ryan’s decision to rest his leading players for the final game means England will be fresh going into tomorrow’s knock-out stages

“We played okay against the Cook Islands and really well against the USA which put us in the quarter finals knowing that if we lost we’d play Tonga and that if we won we’d play Fiji with a lot of guys rested,” said Ryan.

“We just lost to South Africa but it was the right decision to make although Tonga will be tough and we’ll have to play well to beat them.”

England were slick and direct in their opening two outings to make sure they avoided any slip-ups in their bid to close a four-point gap on series leaders Fiji and New Zealand.

Two Norton tries, one apiece from Turner and Greg Barden, and a try with his first touch for new cap Tom Mitchell earned them a 27-12 win over the Cooks, with Arthur Mui and Sean Fletcher replying late on.

Then they shut out the USA 29-0 with two more Norton efforts, Turner’s 17th of the season and further tries from Mitchell and Christian Lewis-Pratt, who added two conversions.

Oxford University student Mitchell’s third try of the day gave England an early lead against South Africa but Mark Richards and Branco du Preez got the Blitzbokke in front before captain Barden’s late reply.

Hertz Sevens, quarter finals: New Zealand v France, England v Tonga, Canada v Samoa, South Africa v Fiji.

England finish third in Wellington after extra-time agony
Saturday February 4, 2012
Issued by Simon Mills


Mathew Turner in action against Tonga


England claimed third place at the Hertz Sevens in Wellington after an agonising semi final defeat in sudden-death extra time against New Zealand.

Frank Halai’s try condemned them to a 17-12 reverse sending them into the play-off against Samoa.

Playmaker Christian Lewis-Pratt touched down twice – converting both his own tries – and Isoa Damudamu scored the clincher with Marcus Watson converting in a 21-12 win against the Islanders.

England climb one place to third in the overall HSBC Sevens World Series standings as a result, after picking up 17 points. They trail New Zealand – who beat Fiji 24-7 in the final – by nine heading into next weekend’s USA Sevens in Las Vegas, the fifth leg of the nine-event series.

“Our performances were really positive, we felt we and New Zealand were the best two teams and we’re so close now,” said head coach Ben Ryan.

“We’re at the stage now that when we don’t win a tournament we feel disappointed. We’ve played New Zealand four times this season, won one and they’ve won three by a single score and that’s the difference between first place and third place.

“What was outstanding was the way we picked ourselves up for the third-place play-off and bounced back. It’s the first time we’ve won one having lost in Delhi [at the Commonwealth Games] and in Port Elizabeth.

“We now need a strong second week going to Las Vegas, we’ve got 12 guys fit and healthy and we’re ready to give it a good crack there.”

Earlier England had brushed aside Tonga 26-7 at the quarter final stage reach the last four.

Dan Norton, Mat Turner and captain Greg Barden all touched down in an impressive first half display – Christian Lewis-Pratt adding two conversions – and a second converted Turner try after the break put them out of sight with Daniel Kilioni scoring a last-minute consolation.

Then came a dramatic showdown with New Zealand in front of a sold-out Westpac Stadium crowd.

England dominated the first half with former Royal Marine Barden outflanking the cover for the first try and Chris Cracknell powering his way over for the second with Lewis-Pratt’s conversion putting them 12-0 up at the break.

Charles Piutau pulled one back mid-way through the second half before All Black Hosea Gear came off the bench to strike with the equalising score while James Rodwell was in the sin bin.

Both sides had chances in extra time before Halai – the leading try scorer in the series – sprinted 40 metres to win it.

HSBC Sevens World Series standings (top 8): 1 New Zealand 73, 2 Fiji 70, 3 England 64, 4 South Africa 61, 5 France 49, 6 Samoa 47, 7 Australia 45, 8 Wales 41.