It will probably never get repeated but three HSBC World Series tournaments in three successive weekends, in three different continents, was testing to say the least.

Things like time zone changes, climatic pressure and long-haul travel are all part of the normal routine on the international sevens circuit. On top of this we had to walk the fine line between keeping on top of everything on the field in terms of training and conditioning but also ensuring enough mental and physical rest for everyone.

So, how did we think we fared? You can see the results and where we are in the table but are we happy with where we are going?

In most areas, I’d say we are delighted. Although we lost three players to injury in Port Elizabeth, none were significant and everyone should be fit for selection for the NZI Sevens in Wellington in February, our next destination.

Before the trip, I set two goals.

First, make sure by the end of the month we are there around the top of the table fighting for first spot. Only four points between the top four sides shows it’s going to be the most competitive series for years and we are one good result away from topping the pile with a long way to go.

Secondly, we wanted to win one of the opening tournaments. We did so in Dubai the hard way in reaching the final playing very well, beating two big rivals in Fiji and New Zealand and tactically getting it spot on.

It makes a significant difference to have players in your squad who have won tournaments. It breeds confidence and belief and perhaps more importantly, it feeds the desire to keep winning.

However, there were a few fish that did get away. Our loss to New Zealand in Port Elizabeth was hard to take. The Kiwis did exactly what we had done in Dubai a week earlier, bouncing back to win all six games and claim the next title.

Of course they are a good side and Gordon Tietjens made sure everyone was on the same page for the Port  Elizabeth tournament as you know he always will.

The competition between the two sides is intense and the games are always close. They have a formula against us that often gives them the upper hand and we think we have a way of playing them that also brings success so it’s a fascinating duel between the two teams.

I expect their squad to be considerably bolstered for Wellington so it’s going to be a great ding-dong for the season ahead.

The 12 core teams travel the world together which does foster a lot of relationships between sides but the competition and rivalry keeps most of that at arms length as everyone looks towards a winning programme.

Lots of our routines are the same. Fairly early starts and swim sessions seems uniform across the board and pre-match prep seems pretty similar. The differences occur in how we prepare the team physically, the style of play and the analysis.

On top of that a lot of countries now have full-time programmes. After our European adventure in the summer, it was good to see France and Wales play so well and show there isn’t an Oceania stranglehold on the game. Scotland were easily the unluckiest side not to hit the quarter finals and while we might not be quite brothers in arms politically with the rest of the continent, in sevens at least there was a collective feeling amongst us that  European Sevens is on a sharp rise.

Another continued work-on for us is our own style. Defensively we certainly had the most aggressive system in place and the games against Fiji showed what happens when you get your defence spot-on. That was really pleasing and it allows us to build on this in the coming weeks.

It also meant in attack it freed up some of our key players and you saw Isoa Damudamu, Dan Norton and Mat Turner in particular take advantage of that. Yet we still want more from our attack and there are still big work-ons to get to a level where we can unlock anyone at any time.

The technical things we are doing in training are really testing the players to reach new levels in game understanding and some are still very alien to them. It’s a bit of a crusade for me to continue to work on this and get them playing a style that really will add to what we are doing and not to worry about losing key players to injury as invariably will happen.

I’d say we are 50 per cent of the way there and most of it centres around the players getting more comfortable with altering the tempo we play at. It will eventually permeate through to our game and that’s another reason to get very excited about what is happening with England Sevens.

Make no bones about it. We were at a distinct disadvantage travel-wise compared with the other sides in the top four and while we didn’t get things 100 per cent right, it has been a great month.

The sevens game is undoubtedly the fastest moving international sport in the world off and on the field and we can proudly say we are one of the leading lights. The goal, though, is to be much more than that and after a couple of weeks off for the team, we will return to work harder than we ever have. Thanks for all the tremendous support. Come on England!

A superb second day performance saw Ben Ryan’s side overpower New Zealand 10-7 and Fiji 19-12 before a superb first half display in the final that ultimately clinched the title.

Isoa Damudamu – whose two tries sank Fiji in the semi final – struck early on then Dan Norton’s chip and chase and two touchdowns for Mat Turner put them 24-7 up at the interval and almost out of sight.

But France wing Renaud Delmas scored his second try early in the second half and France enjoyed long spells on top before England escaped to the other end of the field and Rob Vickerman pounced to see them safely home.

Earlier England opened up by beating Series champions New Zealand – then raised their game again against Fiji, who had won the opening leg of the series in Gold Coast.

Fijian-born centre Damudamu provided two vital tries in the first half after Emosi Vucago had opened the scoring for the islanders.

Turner then stretched the lead with a burst from the breakdown but England had to dig deep after Osea Kolinisau struck from long range and scramble for all they were worth in defence.

Earlier Turner and Norton edged them past New Zealand – England’s first win over the champions since their Dubai triumph of a year ago.

Norton’s sensational second half score – his sixth of the tournament – and Turner’s quick-thinking first half effort enabled them to come from 7-0 down after Tomasi Cama had struck early on.

On the opening day England saw off Zimbabwe (43-0), Kenya (19-12) and France (29-12), with Norton’s hat-trick in the final match sending them through as Pool C leaders.

The two changes to the 12-man group see debutant Lewis-Pratt, 20, take over from the injured John Brake (broken finger) while Hunt, 30, replaces Chris Brightwell.

England go into the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series looking to improve on their performance at the Gold Coast Sevens, when they were beaten by New Zealand at the quarter final stage and picked up 10 series points.

The Dubai tournament kicks off tomorrow with England facing Zimbabwe (07.54 GMT), Kenya (11.38) and France (15.52) in Pool B. The potential quarter final opponents on Saturday are South Africa or New Zealand.

Lewis-Pratt signed full-time with England Sevens from Leeds Carnegie in June and makes his debut after recovering from a pre-season ankle injury.

Head coach Ben Ryan said: “Christian deserves his chance and while he won’t have the fitness of the other lads due to lack of matches we’ll slowly ease him into things.

“It’s good to have him back. He’s a great kicker, good distributor, he’s a threat and he tackles well so I’m sure he’ll enjoy his first tournament.”

Hunt returns to the ground where he scored key tries in last year’s triumph, including a last-play winner against Fiji on the first evening and one within moments of taking the field as a replacement in the final.

His return gives England an experienced edge – their 12-man squad includes eight of those who lifted the title after that 29-21 win against Samoa.

Ryan added: “It was a tough call but he can play in the forwards or the backs and he’s a good impact player. He’s fresh, as is Christian, so there’s a bit of energy to add to the group.

“It’s good to have his experience there and that boosts the number of players who have won tournaments for England which is important in a high pressure tournament like Dubai. If they can keep their heads this weekend there’s no reason we can’t do very well.”

England Squad: Greg Barden (captain), Chris Cracknell, Isoa Damudamu (British Army), Simon Hunt, Christian Lewis-Pratt, Dan Norton, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Nick Royle, Mathew Turner, Rob Vickerman, Marcus Watson (Saracens)

England Sevens head coach Ben Ryan previews the build-up to the Dubai Sevens on Friday and Saturday, the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series

One tournament down, not the perfect start but plenty of positives for England to carry through to this weekend in Dubai. That’s not a losing coach clutching at straws but one who was obviously disappointed the side didn’t win the opening leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series on the Gold Coast at the weekend. We were close to getting it right and winning our quarter final against New Zealand.

The opening leg of the series had quite a few changes. The draw was different, lots of new officials and five substitutions rather than three all gave the two days of competition a slightly different feel. It’s pretty clear a lot of resource has been put into all the different teams by their respective unions. Where once, full-time sevens players were a rare thing, now they seem commonplace and the standard again rises.

So, as we all swoop into Dubai, it’s a case of getting the team fully fit, having some good training sessions, looking at our performance and the opposition’s and bouncing into the weekend.

Unfortunately John Brake fractured his hand two days before the Gold Coast Sevens. He managed to play through the weekend, but now needs to have a week off before Port Elizabeth, so he is unavailable this weekend.

Two other players, Dan Norton and Tom Powell, also suffered injuries on Day One, leaving us a bit light, but our medics have done a fine job and the players have been meticulous with their rehab, icing and so on, so that they both look 100 per cent this weekend.

We had always planned to fly in two other players so I now have 13 players to select a dozen from. That means the training has been competitive and the team have reacted really positively to last weekend.

Their response has been to learn from the things that didn’t go as well and keep improving on the good things to put us in a better place on Friday for our first pool match. That’s all you can ask for as a coach and I’m delighted with their attitude at the moment.

So, what our hopes this weekend? Well, Dubai has been good to us recently and in our last four visits here we have reached two finals and two semi finals. The support is fantastic and generally the conditions are near perfect with normally just one or two games in the very hottest parts of the weekend to contend with.

Our style is still evolving and certainly some of the pieces of how we play have yet to surface in any consistent manner on the field. It’s a simple yet different approach we want to take and really absolutely everything depends on great communication and decision making.

Those two critical areas in any team sports are ones you can really get your teeth into as coach and player with lots of small sided games and practices in training and as much of your programme on the field deliberately slanted towards game understanding.

It’s certainly going to be a long season and as we have seen already, it’s also not going to be all sweetness and light, but with 48 games to go and eight more tournaments to compete in, the series is only just beginning to crank into action. There is lots of time to make an impact and no better place than Dubai to give us some momentum.

After putting in some impressive displays in the Dubai 7s tournament the weekend prior, the Scots arrived in South Africa determined to back-up and build on those performances in the second leg of the global series.

Scotland got their day-one campaign off to a good start with a win over France (21-12) but were ultimately undone in two winnable encounters with Dubai 7s Plate semi-finalists Wales (19-7) and finalists Australia (21-7), to finish third in the pool.

While improvements made by the young side were evident once more, the overriding feeling in the camp was one of disappointment at not getting a second day-one win – that disappointment turned into day-two determination as the Scots took on the Bowl.

The three successive wins to take the title kicked off on song when a 14-5 win over Namibia booked Scotland’s place in a semi-final with Portugal.

In the close game the sides matched one another try-for-try but Andrew Skeen’s impressive kicking rate, sending over two from two, was the difference (14-10) as Scotland went through to the final with last weekend’s Dubai 7s pool opponents, Russia.

Scotland went into the game with confidence having won the Dubai 7s pool match 26-10 but Russia’s impressive 34-0 semi-final win over France underlined their threat.

Scotland got off to a great start with their first of four unanswered tries coming from Andrew Skeen, who converted his own score after two minutes.

Skeen then continued his excellent kicking record by adding the extras to a Dougie Fife try with the last touch of the half to put the Scots 14-0 up at the break.

Scotland returned to the field on song and, after three minutes, Scott Riddell crossed for an unconverted score to put further distance between the sides.

West of Scotland’s Graham Fisken follwed suit with Scotland’s fourth and final try of the match.

Skeen slotted the kick in the sixth minute to end the scoring to see Scotland secure the silverware and four series points.

Scotland 7s head coach, Graham Shiel, said: “The boys felt like they could and should have got more out of the pool matches on day one, having pushed Wales and Australia very close. The players took a lot out of those matches but it was important that we continued our form into the Bowl.

“The game we struggled with most all weekend was Namibia. We really made life hard for ourselves and, while we believed we could win it, we had to dig deep to get the game under our belts.

“After that we really got into our stride. We played very well against Portugal, which you have to because they are a very good team, but against Russia we controlled they game from start to finish. The boys didn’t give anything away and showed real tenacity.

“This group has raised the bar every time they’ve had the chance. It’s been a fantastic experience to work with this group who have pushed themselves very hard, created real unity in the group and pulled it all together.

“They really have been exceptional and have met every challenge head on.”

After the opening two tournaments, the eight-event HSBC Sevens World Series will break until February before taking its unique brand of entertainment to New Zealand, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland, climaxing at Murrayfield on 28-29 May 2011.

SCOTLAND 7s SQUAD:
David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby/Hawick), Struan Dewar (Edinburgh Rugby elite development/Heriot’s), Michael Fedo (Team Northumbria), Dougie Fife (Currie), Graham Fisken (West of Scotland), James Fleming (Glasgow Warriors/Dundee), Fraser Harkness (Selkirk), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors/Dundee), James Johnstone (Glasgow Warriors elite development/Currie), Scott Riddell (Stewart’s Melville), Ross Samson (Edinburgh Rugby/Boroughmuir), Andrew Skeen (Watsonians)

FOR PLAYER PROFILES OF THE SCOTLAND 7s SQUAD PLEASE VISIT WWW.SCOTLANDRUGBYTEAM.ORG

2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series schedule
Dubai, UAE – 3-4 December 2010
George, South Africa – 10-11 December 2010
Wellington, New Zealand – 4-5 February 2011
Las Vegas, USA – 12-13 February 2011
Hong Kong – 25-27 March 2011
Adelaide, Australia – 2-3 April 2011
London, England – 21-22 May 2011
Edinburgh, Scotland – 28-29 May 2011

Ben Ryan’s side trailed 14-12 at half time, and 21-12 with three minutes remaining, but scored three tries by Simon Hunt, Dan Norton and Mat Turner to seal victory 29-21 in front of an expectant ex-pat crowd.

South Africa beat Australia 19-12 to claim the Plate, Argentina defeated Zimbabwe 21-0 to take home the Bowl after Kenya had beaten France 26-0 to win the Shield.

England lead the early Series standings with 24 points, ahead of Samoa (20) and Cup semi finalists New Zealand and Fiji (16).

Six debutants have been named in the side that will travel to Dubai on Sunday including 19-year-old Declan O’Donnell from Waikato.

Also making their New Zealand Sevens debuts are Manawatu’s Scott Curry, Auckland’s Bryce Heem, Waikato’s Frank Halai, Taranaki’s Jackson Ormond and North Harbour’s Jack McPhee.

The team has a mix of experience with Sevens regulars Bay of Plenty’s Toby Arnold, Waikato’s Tim Mikkelson, Manawatu’s Tomasi Cama and Lote Raikabula, and captain DJ Forbes from Counties Manukau all named in the side.

Taranaki’s Scott Waldrom has been released by the Chiefs for the first two tournaments and makes a welcome return to the side having last played for the New Zealand Sevens team in 2007.

Tietjens said it was exciting to see some fresh faces in the squad.

“We have some great young talent in this side as well as those players who have had the experience of playing in big tournaments; those players will certainly provide valuable assistance to the new guys during the competition.

“Our goal is to win the Series this season and we are aiming for wins at the front end of the season to get us off to a good start,” he added.

Following the Dubai leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series, the team will travel on to South Africa for the second leg in George.

Not considered for selection due to injury were Bay of Plenty’s Jason Hona (hamstring) and Solomon King (quad).

New Zealand Sevens team for Dubai and George:

Toby Arnold              (Bay of Plenty)

Tomasi Cama           (Manawatu)

Scott Curry                (Manawatu)

DJ Forbes, captain  (Counties Manukau)

Frank Halai               (Waikato)

Bryce Heem              (Auckland)

Jack McPhee            (North Harbour)

Tim Mikkelson          (Waikato)

Declan O’Donnell    (Waikato)

Jackson Ormond     (Taranaki)

Lote Raikabula         (Manawatu)

Scott Waldrom          (Taranaki)

20010/20111 HSBC World Sevens Series schedule:

3-4 December 2010 – Dubai

10-11 December 2010 – George, South Africa

4-5 February 2011 – Wellington, New Zealand

12-13 February 2011 – Las Vegas, USA

26-28 March 2011 – Hong Kong

2-3 April 2011 – Adelaide, Australia

21-22 May 2011 – London, England

28-29 May 2011 – Edinburgh, Scotland

Dubai tournament (all times are local)

Day 1

New Zealand v United States, 10.48am

New Zealand v Zimbabwe, 2.24pm

New Zealand v Argentina, 7.14pm

Day 2

Finals day

George tournament (all times are local)

Day 1

New Zealand v Kenya, 1.05pm

New Zealand v Russia, 4.11pm

New Zealand v England, 8.16pm

Day 2

Finals day

Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins) comes into the 12-man squad in place of Kevin Barrett (Saracens) for the Emirates Airline Dubai and South Africa Sevens tournaments.

England take the field in Dubai on December 3-4 and in George on December 10-11, the first two of the eight tournaments this season.

The remaining 11 players in head coach Ben Ryan’s squad appeared at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last month, when England beat Australia and world champions Samoa but were edged into fourth place by South Africa in the bronze medal match.

The side is led by Sevens legend Ben Gollings, the 30-year-old playmaker who will be looking to add to his world record Series haul of 2,374 points.

Ryan said: “Ollie did well for us last year, particularly at Hong Kong and has been going well for Quins this season. He deserves his chance and will add a bit of an X-factor to the side.

“I’m really plased to be able to keep the squad together and only be making one change going into Dubai, and although every side wants to make a strong start to the HSBC Sevens World Series we’ve got a good chance.

“We’ve reached two semis and a final there in the last three years so we’ve been in the mix and there’s always huge support there for England and a really vibrant atmosphere.”

England take on Fiji, France and Portugal in Pool D on the opening day at Dubai with the pool winners likely to face Australia or South Africa in the quarter finals.

At George, England are in Pool C with Commonwealth Games gold medallists New Zealand, Kenya and Russia.

England Sevens squad
Greg Barden (Royal Navy)
John Brake (England Sevens)
Dan Caprice (England Sevens)
Chris Cracknell (England Sevens)
Isoa Damudamu (British Army)
Ben Gollings (England Sevens)
Simon Hunt (Birmingham & Solihull)
Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins)
Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby)
Tom Powell (England Sevens)
James Rodwell (England Sevens)
Mathew Turner (England Sevens)

HSBC Sevens World Series dates
December 3-4: Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens
December 10-11: Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens, George
February 4-5: NZI Sevens, Wellington
February 12-13: USA Sevens, Las Vegas
March 25-27: Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens
April 2-3: International Rugby Sevens Adelaide
May 21-22: Emirates Airline London Sevens
May 28-29: Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens

Ben Gollings in fine form for England Sevens

England beat South Africa 21-7 to win the plate at the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens.

It was only the second time England had beaten the Boks in sevens on South African soil in what was a hyper-competitive plate competition.

England had to bounce back from their cup loss against winners New Zealand to beat Australia 24-5 in the plate semi final.

The last time an England side had beaten a South Africa side on their home patch was in 2003, but with Christian Wade (London Wasps), Worcester’s Jake Abbott, Ben Gollings (Gold Coast) and Isoa Damudamu (British Army) in inspired form Ben Ryan’s side ground out an impressive win, the biggest defeat Paul Treu’s side had faced in 80 matches.

England add 12 points to their World Series tally which puts them in third place behind Fiji and New Zealand respectively after reaching the Dubai cup semi final earlier this month.

England: Jake Abbott (Worcester Warriors), Kevin Barrett (capt, Saracens), Chris Brightwell (Birmingham & Solihull), Dan Caprice (Blackheath RFC), Chris Cracknell (Unattached), Isoa Damudamu (British Army), Ben Gollings (Gold Coast, Australia), Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby), James Rodwell (Moseley RFC), Nick Royle (Fylde RFC), Matt Turner (Bristol Rugby), Christian Wade (London Wasps)

England Sevens Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens results:

• December 11, England 42-0 Tunisia
• December 11, England 17-7 Argentina
• December 11, Scotland 19-29 England
• December 12, cup quarter final England 19-22 New Zealand
• December 12, plate semi final England 24-5 Australia
• December 12, plate final England 21-7 South Africa

The 25-year-old has previously played at Bath Rugby, Exeter Chiefs, Cornish Pirates, Newbury and Harlequins.

A hugely gifted Sevens performer, Cracknell earned rave reviews just last week as he scored two tries as England were narrowly beaten in the IRB Dubai Sevens, where he played alongside new Worcester team-mate Jake Abbott.

Director of Rugby Mike Ruddock said he was delighted to have secured the former England U21 ace.

“Chris has signed a contract that will allow him to be part of our squad and feature for us until the end of this season,” said Ruddock.

“I have taken these steps to cover the injury to Netani Talei, who unfortunately will be out until towards the end of the season after shoulder reconstruction.

“It was important that we reinforced this area and I’m particularly pleased to have signed a player of the quality of Chris Cracknell.

“He is a very well respected English qualified back row forward of immense potential. He has learnt his trade playing for teams like Exeter Chiefs and Cornish Pirates and, more recently, he was at Bath until Luke Watson arrived.

“Chris has also featured heavily for England Sevens and is quite obviously a very talented prospect. We look forward to seeing him the Warriors colours before too long.”