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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2014:02:10:09:15:21 by Kath..

England Sevens: Callum Wilson and Mat Turner called up for Wellington


England Sevens wing Callum Wilson

CALLUM WILSON has been handed his HSBC Seven World Series debut and Mat Turner returns to the side as England prepare to defend their Wellington Sevens title in New Zealand.

Former Loughborough Student Wilson and 2011-12 series top try-scorer Turner take over from Christian Lewis-Pratt and Alex Gray for the global tour’s fifth leg at the Westpac Stadium on February 7 and 8.

England lifted the title last season after ambushing New Zealand in the pool stages, then defeating Kenya in extra time to win the final 24-19 thanks to Sam Edgerley’s decisive try.

This season they start with another tough draw, taking on current series leaders South Africa, Wales and Portugal in Pool A.

Wilson, 23, is a 17st wing whose ball-carrying power and ability to break tackles was evident against Wales in England’s pre-season preparations at Bath University.

England Sevens Head Coach Simon Amor said: “It’s a good opportunity for Callum. It’s his first tournament in international sevens. He’s got lots of potential and lots to learn.

“He’s a big guy and he’ll add his physicality to the team, while Mat Turner’s a super talent and this is a great chance for him to come back in and make an impact.”

While England are defending their title, Amor is concentrating on improving their performance levels on last month’s outing in Las Vegas, where England won the Plate and finished fifth overall after a quarter final defeat at the hands of New Zealand. They are fourth overall in the series rankings.

“It’s important to understand that this is a different team in a different year,” Amor said. “What’s important for us now is taking steps forward and improving on our performance in Las Vegas.

“We showed some glimpses of what we can do there but overall we didn’t perform at the levels we aspire to. The habits are not in place yet and we’ve got to concentrate on the fundamentals of our game to make progress.”

The Wellington pool stages on Friday see England face Portugal (01:45 GMT), Wales (04:33) and South Africa (08:34).

“South Africa are a fantastic team with lots of powerful players and they’re playing a good style of sevens,” said Amor.

“They’ll be a big challenge for us but at the same time Wales and Portugal are equally difficult to play and hugely physical, so it’ll be a great test.”

England Sevens: Dan Bibby, Phil Burgess, Chris Cracknell, Mike Ellery, Tom Mitchell (captain), Dan Norton, James Rodwell, Tom Powell, Mathew Turner, Marcus Watson, Jeff Williams, Callum Wilson.

England face Samoa in Wellington Sevens quarter finals


England Sevens captain Tom Mitchell

ENGLAND beat South Africa 19-5, Wales 21-7 and Portugal 36-7 to book a quarter final place at the Wellington Sevens in New Zealand.

The clean sweep added up to the best first-day tournament performance of the season in the HSBC Sevens World Series.

Simon Amor’s side now take on Samoa in the knock-out stages with the winners going forward to meet New Zealand or Canada in the semis.

Captain Tom Mitchell touched down twice against South Africa either side of James Rodwell’s 60th career try for England following impressive work from England’s forwards.

Amor said: “James Rodwell’s been outstanding today, Phil Burgess hasn’t played many tournaments but he’s done well and we’re getting better overall. Samoa beat us at the last tournament in Las Vegas so we’ll need to step up again against them next time round.”

England opened their account with a fluent 36-7 win against Portugal with Dan Norton’s two tries leading the way. Mitchell, Burgess, Jeff Williams and Tom Powell also touched down.

The 21-7 win against Wales was tighter with Mike Ellery’s early score cancelled out by Rhys Jones before Mitchell and Norton – with his 150th career try – struck to make sure of the win late in the second half.

The quarter final line-up in full sees England take on Samoa, hosts New Zealand play Canada, Australia play South Africa and Fiji versus Argentina.

Marcus Watson in action against Samoa

ENGLAND finished fourth in Wellington after a dramatic final day at the fifth leg of this season’s HSBC Sevens World Series.

Head Coach Simon Amor’s injury-hit side – unbeaten on day one – produced one of their best performances of the season to see off Samoa 21-5 in the quarter finals.

But they lost two men to the sin bin and went down
31-0 to New Zealand in the semis before a late try for Fiji saw them beaten 14-7 in the play-off.

The 15 points gained sees England ranked fourth in the series standings behind New Zealand, who beat second-placed South Africa 21-0 in the final, and third-placed Fiji.

England, who had beaten Wales 21-7, Portugal 36-7 and South Africa 19-5 in the pool stages, went into day two without injured duo Mike Ellery and Dan Norton.

They had lost to Samoa in the previous leg of the series and trailed in the first half to a Fale So’oialo try but Marcus Watson and Phil Burgess struck early in the second half. Watson’s late second score made sure of the win with captain Tom Mitchell adding three conversions.

England pinned New Zealand back early on in the semi final but lost both Dan Bibby and Mitchell to the sin bin during the first half and trailed 19-0 at the break as a result with Ben Lam, Sherwin Stowers and Scott Curry touching down.

Any thoughts of a revival were effectively ended by Bryce Heem’s try three minutes into the second half and Akira Iaone scored New Zealand’s fifth on the hooter.

The third-place play-off was a thriller with England busy in defence before Benito Masilevu put Fiji 7-0 up on the stroke of half time.

James Rodwell – playing his 48th World Series tournament – levelled the scores only for Fiji to conjure up the winner for Semi Kunatani at the death.

Elsewhere, Scotland’s Alex Glashan scored a hat-trick of tries as they beat Wales 28-0 in the second tier Bowl semi-final before the Scots were beaten 24-14 by Kenya in the Bowl final.