England Sevens head coach previews Dubai tournament

Posted on Dec 1, 2011 in England, English Rugby, Sevens

By Ben Ryan:

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.

Scotland nil Russia to take silverware

Posted on Dec 13, 2010 in Rugby News

Scotland 7s lifted their first piece of silverware of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series with a convincing 26-0 win over Russia in the Bowl final of the Emirates Airline South Africa 7s.

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

England win Dubai Sevens

Posted on Dec 4, 2010 in English Rugby, Sevens

England came from behind to beat reigning World Series champions Samoa in the final of the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens and take an early lead in the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series.

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).

NZ Sevens team for Dubai

Posted on Nov 26, 2010 in Rugby News

New Zealand Sevens Coach Gordon Tietjens has named a new-look team for the first two HSBC Sevens World Series tournaments starting next weekend in Dubai and the following weekend in George.

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

England 7s make one change for World Series openers

Posted on Nov 12, 2010 in Rugby News

England Sevens make just one change to their side for the first two legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

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