England Sevens kick off series in Dubai

Nov 28 • General News, International, Sevens Rugby, Sevens World Series, World Rugby • 2257 Views • Comments Off on England Sevens kick off series in Dubai

CAMERON COWELL and Ruaridh McConnochie will make their HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series debuts when the season kicks off in Dubai next week (December 4-5).

The duo feature alongside an experienced line up, captained by Tom Mitchell, and have been drawn in a pool with Wales, Kenya and Australia.

Men’s Head Coach Simon Amor said: “Last year was a positive season and one of the most pleasing aspects was seeing the likes of Marcus Watson and Jeff Williams earn their contracts in the Premiership. It’s great to see them going well, with an impressive four tries from Marcus last weekend.

“There are some voids to be filled and I’m delighted with the way that Cameron and Ruaridh, who have both been on our radar and worked with us for over a year now, have progressed over a very long pre-season. They have real potential and I’m confident that they are going to give it everything and perform well for the programme.

McConnochie set to earn his first cap

“The management, and especially Strength and Conditioning Coach Dan Howells, have done a great job in getting the whole squad ready so we are in a strong place to give a good account of ourselves.”The new series structure will see England compete in ten tournaments over the next six months and they face a tough draw in pool D in Dubai. “The first tournament is always fascinating seeing who the new players are and the new styles of rugby,” added Amor.

“Australia are very consistent and potentially with some superstars to feature, they will be a big challenge. Kenya, with a new coaching set-up, will be buoyed by their recent success in qualifying for the Olympics and will pose a very physical challenge. We are familiar with Wales, a team with a lot of pride, and Gareth Williams is a very good coach so it will be a great pool.”

Depth has been created in the men’s programme this year by the introduction of academy and development squads. These young players will also travel to Dubai to compete under the banner of The Royals in the invitational tournament where they will play Spain, Germany Development and Canada Maple Leaf.

Amor said: “Dubai is such a unique set up with thousands of players. It is a brilliant opportunity for us to get both our senior team squad and young academy talent there as one programme, improving and working hard for each other.

“It is also encouraging that we have players from Premiership Academies competing for us in the Royals. It demonstrates the positive relationships that England Sevens has with the regional academies and how we are supporting the development of young players for their clubs.”

England Men: Tom Bowen; Dan Bibby; John Brake; Phil Burgess; Cameron Cowell; Richard De Carpentier; Alex Gray; Dan Norton; Ruaridh McConnochie; Tom Mitchell (capt); James Rodwell; Josh Watkins

Fixtures: Friday, December 4 (all times local, GMT +4 hours) – Wales (11.14pm), Kenya (2.58pm) and Australia (8.42pm)

All games live on Sky Sports 3 with coverage from 5am GMT Friday and 5.30am GMT Saturday.

The Royals: Henry Cheeseman (Harlequins), James Cordy-Redden (C), Sam Egerton, Harry Glover, Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas, Lewis Jones (Yorkshire Carnegie, Leeds Beckett Uni), Warwick Lahmert, Seb Nagle-Taylor, Gift Sankoh, Steph Reynolds (Gloucester), Ethan Waddleton, Tom Whiteley (Saracens)

Fixtures: Friday, December 4 (all times local, GMT +4 hours) – Spain (1pm), Germany Development (3.40pm), Canada Maple Leaf (6.20pm)