| England have made three changes for the Vancouver Sevens this weekend (12-13th March) with Richard de Carpentier, Warwick Lahmert and debutant Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas coming into the squad.
They replace Alex Gray, Tom Mitchell and Jack Wilson as England take on New Zealand, USA and France in pool D.
Vancouver has been added to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for this first time this season and it was new hosts Canada who knocked England’s depleted squad out of the Las Vegas tournament last weekend in the shield semi-final.
Head Coach Simon Amor said: “We are not a programme that makes excuses. In previous tournaments we have had injuries but our strong attitude and work rate have not been compromised, last weekend was not good enough and harsh lessons were learned. We are aware that we need to build depth in our squad in key positions so that when injuries occur we are able to consistently remain at the top end of tournaments. This is not a short term process and we need to show our mental resilience.”
“The positives are that Dan Norton showed good form after missing the last two tournaments and being ill on day one and Phil Burgess, who has been out with injury, played well and was a strong captain in Tom Mitchell’s absence. Due to the injuries Charlie Hayter played more than initially planned, but he responded well in his first tournament since last summer and he will get further game time under his belt in Vancouver.”
Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas is the sixth England Sevens player to earn his first cap this season and the 21yearold will be following Cameron Cowell, Ruaridh McConnochie, Harry Glover and Ethan Waddleton as having progressed from the England Sevens academy side onto the World Series.
Amor added: “We lose some leadership with Alex, Tom and Jack returning home but I am sure that Richard, Warwick and Oskar will bring energy, passion and commitment to the squad. We took a big step backwards in Las Vegas and with a tough pool in Vancouver we will be working hard in all aspects of our performance to take a big step forward.”
England’s pool D fixtures (all times in GMT) live on Sky Sports 5:
New Zealand – 7.20pm Saturday
USA – 10.34pm Saturday
France – 2.22am Sunday
England Sevens Squad for Vancouver:
Tom Bowen
Phil Burgess ©
Cameron Cowell
Richard de Carpentier
Harry Glover
Charlie Hayter
Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas
Warwick Lahmert
Ruaridh McConnochie
Dan Norton
James Rodwell
Ethan Waddleton |
