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England Sevens forward Tom Powell

BIRTHDAY boy Tom Powell insists England and the sevens code have both come of age as they prepare for the opening weekend of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

The forward from Sheffield turned 27 in Australia today [Thursday] on the eve of the Gold Coast Sevens, the first event of a nine-leg global journey that concludes at Twickenham next May.

England finished third overall last term – behind New Zealand and Fiji – but have kept their developing squad together while several major rivals make changes.

The changes to Powell’s own team involve adding talent and increasing the size of the squad to 19 full-time sevens players whose programme includes tapping into the Olympic expertise of English Institute of Sport.

The first test of their progress comes on Day One at Skilled Park, where Kenya, Spain and Samoa stand in their way in Pool C.

“If you look at our squad, we’re quite an experienced one in terms of the circuit and a lot of the boys have been around for a few years, been to all the tournaments and know what it’s all about,” said Powell.

“Since the Olympic inclusion was announced three years ago sevens has grown as a sport and matured, and there’s still potential and a long way to go.

“But as the sport’s maturing there aren’t any easy games any more, the 30-40 pointers you used to get three or four years ago.

“Now every team poses a new challenge that you have to react to and if you’re not on top of your game you’ll get turned over. We’re fully focused on what we have to do on Saturday and hopefully we’ll then carry that into Sunday.

“Everyone here is fighting for a starting spot at the moment and then it’s all hands on deck fighting for each other at the weekend to push on and get the best possible start on the Gold Coast.”

Between tournaments, Powell splits his time between squad sessions in London and gym and track work with EIS coach Mark Campbell in Sheffield.

He said: “I’m training at the same facility as [Olympic heptathlete] Jess Ennis. It’s an incredible environment with specialised coaching for my lifting, the weights I’m doing and my speed technique.

“Mark works on the lifting and sprinting with me, so hopefully over the next few months the speed will increase and the power will increase and I’ll be able to keep up with the other boys on the pitch.

“It’s fantastic that we can do that away from London, so while I can do it in Sheffield, [fellow forward] James Rodwell can do it in Birmingham and [wing ] Dan Norton can do his at Bath.”

It’s not an extreme environment all the time, though, with his England teammates treating Powell to a chocolate birthday cake after training.

“I’ve had a lot of ribbing and lots of chat about my age but I got a nice cake at the ground which we sampled after our weights session in the afternoon,” he said. “It’s good to have a final treat before the weekend.”

HSBC Sevens World Series 2012/2013England coach and captain look forward to the series kick off – video

[www.rugbynetwork.net]

Will England be wearing their marmalade kit?

That's always a bit of a laugh.

ENGLAND were edged out of a quarter final place after an agonising 19-17 defeat against Samoa in their final Pool C match on Day One of the Gold Coast Sevens.

After being held to a 14-14 draw by Kenya and beating Spain 13-10, England were forced to go into the last game of the day without Chris Cracknell (knee) and Mat Turner (ankle).

They still managed to force their way into a 17-14 lead with two Tom Mitchell tries and a trademark Dan Norton touchdown, Christian Lewis-Pratt landing one conversion.

But Lio Lolo’s late score ended their title hopes and they now face a sevens version of the Calcutta Cup against Scotland in the quarter finals of the Bowl.

Centre Mitchell said: “We came in with high expectations and we haven’t quite delivered today but we know we’ve got more to give and we’ll back to prove a point and get some sort of silverware.

“We’ve had a really good pre-season, everything coming into the tournament was good. We came with a great squad but we’ll have to look at it and see what went wrong. Whoever we play we’ll stick to our game plan and come out firing and do our best.”

Earlier Turner’s try and a Lewis-Pratt penalty put England 8-0 up against Spain, only for Pedro Martin and Ignacio Martin to reply. Then Jeff Williams came off the bench for the injured Cracknell and his first contribution was to surge 70 metres for the decisive try.

England were held to a draw by Kenya after Norton and Chris Brightwell scored well-constructed tries as Ben Ryan’s side dominated the first half.

But they lost control of the ball in the second with Davis Chenge scoring when injury reduced England to six fit players and Dennis Ombachi going over late on. Biko Adema’s injury-time conversion levelled the match.

England limp over line at Gold Coast Sevens
For immediate release
Issued by Simon Mills


Dan Norton was England's top try-scorer

ENGLAND limped over the line at the Gold Coast Sevens, beating Scotland and edging out Canada before going down 19-14 in sudden death extra time against Spain in the Bowl Final.

They showed plenty of resilience at the opening leg of this season’s HSBC Sevens World Series after failing to make the Cup quarter finals.

Scotland were swept away 35-7 with Dan Norton’s two tries leading the way and Marcus Watson pounced in extra-time to win a 24-19 thriller against Canada.

England then led Spain 14-7 early in the second half with tries from James Rodwell and Christian Lewis-Pratt.

But Ignacio Martin equalised and Matias Tudela got away for the winner as Spain beat England in a World Series tournament for the first time in six meetings.

Head Coach Ben Ryan didn’t have many options left, admittedly, with four senior players out of action by the end of the tournament.

Mat Turner, the series leading try scorer last season, broke an ankle on day one and forward Chris Cracknell damaged knee ligaments in the same game. Tom Powell didn’t reappear after the tournament's opening match following a bang on the head and John Brake (ankle) was ruled out of their last outing.

At least England now have leg two to look forward to in the Middle East, where they will attempt to win a third successive Dubai Sevens title on November 30 and December 1.

At the start of day two, England had roared into a 21-0 half time lead against Scotland, with two tries for wing Norton and one for forward Rodwell.

Jeff Williams and Watson came off the bench to score in the second half with Watson converting his own try and Christian Lewis-Pratt the rest.

They trailed 14-0 to Canada after tries from Sean Duke and Ciaran Hearn but forced their way back in it with centre Tom Mitchell striking just before the break.

Norton’s fifth try of the tournament and another powerful run from Williams put England 19-14 up only for Duke’s late score to give Watson his chance to strike gold.

The former London Irish and Saracens wing weaved his way through the middle to set up the final meeting with Spain.

England had beaten Spain 13-10 in their Pool C meeting on day one and Pedro and Ignacio Martin both scored against them for the second time this weekend.

Rodwell’s rangy run down the left gave England the lead but they looked short on energy in the closing stages and Tudela got away down the left to finish them off after 50 seconds of extra time.

England Sevens: Injuries to Chris Cracknell
and Mathew Turner

Issued by Simon Mills


England’s Chris Cracknell and Mathew Turner both face spells out of the game after sustaining injuries on the first day of the Gold Coast Sevens.

Turner, the HSBC Sevens World Series leading try-scorer last season, broke his right ankle in the 13-10 win against Spain.

In the same game, experienced forward Cracknell suffered Anterior Cruciate Ligament damage to his left knee.

Both players will be reassessed by England medical staff when they return to the United Kingdom on Tuesday.

[www.rugbynetwork.net]

I can't believe they lost out to Spain in the Bowl Final

Shows how little you know Kath. Stick to mindless postings of press releases.

ninjaboy,

you have an unpleasant attitude.