ENGLAND SEVENS NAME SQUAD FOR DHL OKTOBERFEST 7S
Simon Amor has named his side for the inaugural DHL Oktoberfest 7s which takes place in Germany this week (29-30 September).
The 12-man academy squad will be led by Will Edwards who made his HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series debut in Vancouver last season where England defeated South Africa in the final, securing their second victory of the series.
Fergus Guiry and Lailand Gordon – who both represented team England where they won silver at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas this summer – will also travel to Germany alongside Ethan Waddleton who makes his first return to competition since injury at the Hong Kong 7s in March.
Drawn in Pool B, England will face Uganda, Germany and Argentina on the opening day of the two-day tournament, hosted at the Munich Olympic Stadium.
“As the first international, invitational tournament of the season, this is the first step on the ladder for many of these young players,” said England Sevens head coach Simon Amor.
“This competition provides the England Sevens programme with a great opportunity to trial our very young players and give them exposure against some world-class teams which will undoubtedly be an enormous challenge for them.
“We’re hoping that this side plays with a real sense of freedom and we’ll be looking to see if they can demonstrate what they’ve shown us in training out on the world stage at the Olympic Stadium – invaluable experience that will set them up for the possibility of playing on the world series later this season.”
Additional to the full-time senior and academy England Sevens players, the programme has built relationships with Premiership academies and universities where selected players will represent England at international academy tournaments.
Amor added, “It’s great for the programme to have the opportunity to work with Worcester Warriors to allow Ben Howard with the chance to play international sevens and develop his game at this tournament.”
England are joined by 11 international teams for the inaugural tournament, many of which have previously competed on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. They include: South Africa, Fiji, France, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Germany, Chile, Portugal, Uganda and Ireland.
England Sevens squad for DHL Oktoberfest 7s:
Jordan Ainslie (Bath University)
George Chatterton
Will Edwards, c
Lailand Gordon
Fergus Guiry
Ben Howard (Worcester Warriors)
Charlie Kingham (Loughborough University)
Ryan Olowofela
Callum Sirker
Charlie Spawforth
Mason Tonks (Gloucester Rugby)
Ethan Waddleton
England’s Pool B fixtures, Friday 29 September (BST):
England v Uganda 13.15
England v Germany 15.38
England v Argentina 18.59
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