ENGLAND MEN SEVENS SQUAD NAMED FOR CAPE TOWN

Dec 7 • General News, Sevens Rugby • 1371 Views • Comments Off on ENGLAND MEN SEVENS SQUAD NAMED FOR CAPE TOWN

Simon Amor has named his 12 player squad for the second leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series taking place in Cape Town on 8-9 December 2018, broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Two changes have been made to the squad that won bronze in the opening round in Dubai last weekend where England defeated Australia 15-14 after losing 5-7 to New Zealand in the Cup semi-final.

Injured Ollie Lindsay-Hague and Richard de Carpentier, who travelled to Dubai as the squad’s 13th man, will be replaced by Ryan Olowofela and James Rodwell respectively.

England Sevens academy player Olowofela made his World Series debut in Sydney last season before going on to score his first World Series tries in Hamilton the following weekend while Rodwell – who this season has adopted a player/coach role – is Amor’s travelling reserve.

“Our bronze medal win in Dubai last weekend was a great way to begin our World Series campaign for this season,” said Head of England Sevens Amor.

“It’s always interesting to see what changes teams make during the pre-season and how this will play out in the opening leg of the World Series, and it was evident from Dubai that the standard of competition is higher and more intense than ever.”

Drawn in Pool C, England will face Kenya, France and Fiji at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday 8 December.

Amor added: “We’re obviously very disappointed to lose Ollie and Richard this weekend and we have a very physical pool for Cape Town, so recovery this week has been key to ensure we’re in the best place possible heading into the weekend.

“We always look forward to playing in Cape Town where the fans are always so invested and the fast, flat pitch really suits the pace of the game that we want to go out there and play.”

England Men Sevens squad for Dubai:
Dan Bibby
Tom Bowen
Phil Burgess
Alex Davis
Mike Ellery
Harry Glover
Charlton Kerr
Tom Mitchell ©
Will Muir
Dan Norton
Ryan Olowofela
Ethan Waddleton

13th man: James Rodwell

England’s Pool C fixtures, broadcast live on Sky Sports Action (Saturday 8 December) and Sky Sports Arena (Sunday 9 December) (all times GMT):
England v Kenya, 9.21am
England v France, 12.42pm
England v Fiji, 16.03pm