England 7s Fixtures Dubai 2008

Good day to you all

I thought I would let you know that tickets are already very hard to come by and seemed to sell out very quickly indeed. Unless you have one or have made alternative arrangements then you may be disappointed.

The wife and kids were also off early on Friday for the breast cancer walk and having just returned from a trip took the opportunity to take my car for a spin early in the morning to find the new club site – crikey it is a long way from anywhere, so if you’re coming over for the Dubai 7’s please make sure your transport there and back is arranged.

See you in Dubai

Steve DXB – one of several London Irish shirts in the crowd!

Hi Steve: Thank you for this information and updated. I am amazed with this new stadium that the tickets are nearly gone already!!

Steve hope you don't mind me asking but if you get the chance and are able to, would you be kind enough to send a couple of photos through of the new stadium and the event if you are going?

england.kath@gmail.com

Thanking you for all of this Kath

England's 12-man Emirates Airline Dubai and South Africa Sevens:

Greg Barden (Bristol Rugby/Royal Navy)*
Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie)
Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs)
Isoa Damudamu (Army)
Josua Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy)*
Ben Gollings (Gold Coast, Australia)
Uche Odouza (Suntory, Japan)
Ollie Phillips (Newcastle Falcons)
James Rodwell (Moseley RFC)
Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie)
Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)
*Denotes uncapped for England Sevens

Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, November 28 & 29, 2008 England fixtures:

Pool D

Friday November 28, 2008

England v Portugal, ko 12.04pm local time (GMT +4)
England v USA, ko 5.00pm local time (GMT +4)
Fiji v England, ko 7.56pm local time (GMT +4)

Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens, December 5 & 6, 2008 England fixtures:

Pool A

Friday December 5, 2008

England v Africa 3 (kick off 13.27 local time, GMT + 2)
England v France (kick off 16.33 local time, GMT + 2)
New Zealand v England (kick off 20.16 local time, GMT + 2)

To follow England Sevens go to www.rfu.com/sevens

England 31 v 7 Portugal
England 24 v 10 USA,
England 28 v 5 Fiji

Well done England 7s!

next up.......
29-11-2008 11:30 England -Argentina 1/4 final Cup

England's Uche Odouza hugs the touchline during his side's Day one victory over Portugal at the Dubai Sevens 2008.Getty Images

England Sevens save best till last

Fiji 5 - 28 England

England finish top of their group this evening after a confident display against Fiji at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens.

A disallowed try didn't dampen England's spirits as they scored four tries with Micky Young, Uche Oduoza and Isoa Damudamu flying over the line and captain Ollie Phillips adding four conversions.

England had a slow start waiting until the fourth minute to score their first try which came from an England scrum, Kevin Barrett threw out to Damu who tore through the Fiji defence for his third try of the day.

Powerful forward Chris Cracknell added to England's tally minutes later but it was disallowed because of a forward pass. The scores at the break were 0-14.

After half time England were well into their stride striking in the second minute with a try from Phillips from an England line out. Fiji answered back moments later with their only try, but failed to convert.

Substitute Tom Biggs had a great run that led to Damu receiving the ball in the last play of the match. It was a chip and chase that saw Damu fly over the line for his fourth try of the day.

Coach Ben Ryan said, "It was a fine balance and we just managed to get it today. We got the ball early and we knew even against teams like Fiji if you can just hold onto the ball you break down their shape, you need the right guys to make the right decisions and we took our chances.

"As a management group we've stood back a little and let them manage themselves, we told them, you've got to go out there and enjoy yourselves and start playing through their lines, start looking for offloads. When you're confident and hitting the right lines sometimes those offloads come off. Today has been a real team effort."

England face Argentina in the cup quarter final at 11.30am (GMT, 7.30am) on Saturday November 29.

England: Isoa Damudamu (Army), Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie), Uche Oduoza (Suntory, Japan), Ollie Phillips (Captain, Newcastle Falcons), Josua Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs).

Replacements: Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie), Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons), Greg Barden (Bristol Rugby/Royal Navy).

England scorers:
Tries: Damu (2), Oduoza, Young
Conversions: Phillips (4)

England Sevens win pass to New Zealand show down

England 15 - 5 Argentina

England will face New Zealand in the cup semi final after overcoming Argentina at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens.

The showdown kicks off at 2.20pm GMT, which is 10 minutes before their senior counterparts take to the Twickenham turf for the Investec Challenge match.

Three tries from England was enough to send them through this morning, Josh Drauniniu, Tom Biggs and Isoa Damudamu added to England's scoreboard but as the rain came down over Dubai Ollie Phillips' kicking suffered with no conversions scored.

Rob Vickerman, once again, proved to be vital in the centre, cutting through Argentina's defence to set-up Drauniniu for the first try of the match.

Argentina fought back, but England defended well and a great run by scrum half Micky Young saw Argentina on the back foot once again. Young was forced to throw out to Ollie Phillips who found support from Damu who flew over the line for his fifth try of the tournament. The score at the break was 10-0.

England came back after the break to score their third try, Vickerman winning the ball from Argentina's line out, which found Phillips who kicked the ball up field for Tom Biggs to chase. Biggs outrunning Argentina's defence for his first try of the tournament.

Argentina didn't give up and scored their only try of the match in the last seconds, a diving tackle from Biggs couldn't stop them as they went over, but failed to convert. The final score was 15-5

England face New Zealand in the cup semi final at 6.20pm (GMT, 2.20pm).

England: Isoa Damudamu (Army), Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie), Ollie Phillips (Captain, Newcastle Falcons), Josua Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie), Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs).

Replacements: Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons), Greg Barden (Bristol Rugby/Royal Navy), James Rodwell (Moseley RFC).

England scorers:
Tries: Drauniniu, Damu, Biggs
Conversions: none

Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, November 28 & 29

England results:
Pool D

Friday November 28

England 31-7 Portugal
England 24-10 USA
Fiji 5 v 28 England

Saturday November 29

England 15 -5 Argentina

Congratulations to the English team.

Even better result, beating New Zealand 21-19

That is the reason I was congratulating England.

Final 12 all with 4 mins to go. One Bok sin binned.

But Boks win

It's not All Black for England

New Zealand 19 -21 England

England are in their first Dubai final since 2006 by overcoming last seasons series champions New Zealand at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens.

England dominated the first half going into the break 21-0 with tries from Rob Vickerman, Ollie Phillips and Josh Drauniniu and a 100% kicking record from Phillips.

But New Zealand fought back in the second half scoring 19 points.

England started well with Drauniniu setting up the first try after receiving the ball from an England scrum, he ran through the New Zealand defence but he was caught short of the line and had to throw to Vickerman, who, went over for the first score.

Minutes later, New Zealand were penalised just metres from their line and England took advantage, Kevin Barrett took the kick which reached Phillips who went straight over for the second try.

Drauniniu was rewarded with his own score seconds before the break making a great run and fending off two defenders to take the scores to 21-0.

New Zealand came back fighting in the second half. England's Tom Biggs was taken down on his way to the tryline and New Zealand's quick thinking saw them go over for their first try and conversion.

New Zealand's Nafi Tuitavake broke Biggs' grasp to go over the line for the All Blacks' second try but they failed to convert.

With a minute to go England had a lineout but were penalised for not being straight. A New Zealand scrum saw them over the line for the third time in the last seconds of the match. They converted, but it wasn't enough and England went through 19-21.

England face South Africa in the cup final at 8.34pm, local time (4.34pm GMT).

England: Isoa Damudamu (Army), Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie), Uche Oduoza (Suntory, Japan), Ollie Phillips (Captain, Newcastle Falcons), Josua Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs).

Replacements: Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie).

England scorers:
Tries: Drauniniu, Phillips, Vickerman
Conversions: Phillips (3)

Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, November 28 & 29

England results:
Pool D

Friday November 28

England 31-7 Portugal
England 24-10 USA
Fiji 5 v 28 England

Saturday November 29

England 15 -5 Argentina
New Zealand 19-21 England

South Africa hit gold in Dubai
Saturday 29 November 2008



Robert Ebersohn scored the first of South Africa's three tries in the Dubai final

South Africa overcame England in a dramatic final to win the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens 19-12 and get their 2008/09 IRB Sevens World Series campaign off to the perfect start.

The Boks travel home to George for the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens next weekend brimming with confidence as they attempt to win their home event for the first time.



They hold an early four-point lead over England in the World Series, with New Zealand and Fiji a further four behind, having lost their respective semi finals.

Robert Ebersohn opened the scoring for the Boks, in the first half and Mpho Mbiyozo stretched the lead to 12-0 at the break.

Tom Biggs hit back for the English as they exerted pressure and teenager Micky Young scored and converted a second try to bring the scores level with three minutes remaining.

With less than a minute on the clock England worked a line out in an attacking position and span the ball out to danger man Tom Biggs, but Gio Aplon tackled him and from the resulting ruck sprinted 80 metres before unselfishly passing inside to Ryno Benjamin, who scored under the posts. Mzwandile Stick converted the drop goal, as he had done crucially to win their semi final, before the final whistle brought an end to the tournament.

Isoa Damu scores for England against Fiji, the country of his birth.



50,000 fans packed into The Sevens on Day 1 of the Dubai Sevens 2008, smashing the attendance record for the opening day of an IRB Sevens World Series event.

England Sevens fall short

England 12 - 19 South Africa

England may leave the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens empty handed tonight but they can hold their heads high.

Over the two day tournament England have played with flair, passion and commitment, finishing top of their pool and adding convincing quarter and semi final performances, but they were shot down at the last hurdle.

Tries from Micky Young and Tom Biggs kept England's spirits alive but a last minute try from South Africa's Ryno Benjamin and a number of injuries stopped England in their tracks.

Captain Ollie Phillips and winger Uche Oduoza both went off with injuries in the first half leaving England at a disadvantage.

The first half was dominated by the Boks. England were penalised at the scrum which led to South Africa's first try and conversion.

A knock on by England's Isoa Damudamu gave South Africa possession which led to their second try, at the same time, Phillips (left arm) and Oduoza (knee) were sent off injured so Micky Young and Tom Biggs were brought on as cover.

At the break the scores were 0-12.

England came back fighting in the second half, Tom Biggs scoring by weaving through the South African defence, but Young was unable to convert.

South Africa was down to six men in the fifth minute of the half , when Paul Delport was sent to the bin for persistent infringement. England made the most of their opportunities, Young going over for the score and converting his own try.

It looked as though England were in for another try and looked the likely party when Biggs when soaring down the wing, but he was tackled with no England cover, South Africa made off down the field to seal the deal. The final score 12-19.

Coach Ben Ryan said, "We want to be the best sevens side in the world and that means being World Series champions.

"Our defence over the last two days has been pretty rock solid and that gave us the edge. We deserved our semi final place and that defence put us in the final.

"The final was a little bit less expansive rugby, it was a bit more confrontational and we knew to expect that. But to come back from 12-0 down with our fly half playmaker injured our other flyhalf not on the field and then to lose our winger in the first half as well, the cards were really marked against us.

"We fought back, scored two cracking tries and we had just a little further to go. We had a lineout where if we'd made that count it would have been our trophy.

"Our teams learning but I've got to say I'm very proud of them and feel we have turned a corner."

England: Isoa Damudamu (Army), Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie), Uche Oduoza (Suntory, Japan), Ollie Phillips (Captain, Newcastle Falcons), Josua Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs).

Replacements: Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie), Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons).

England scorers:
Tries: Biggs, Young
Conversions: Young (1)

Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, November 28 & 29

England results:
Pool D

Friday November 28

England 31-7 Portugal
England 24-10 USA
Fiji 5 v 28 England

Saturday November 29

England 15 -5 Argentina
New Zealand 19-21 England
England 12 -19 South Africa

Bad start left us too much to overcome.

Still, all in all a good tourament. Hopefully they can have a good year.