Kevin Barrett in action for England Sevens

Kevin Barrett has been named captain for the Emirates Airline Dubai and South Africa Sevens (Dec 4-5 & 11-12).

After helping his club Saracens beat World Champions South Africa, 24-23 last month, the England scrum half will take the lead from last season’s IRB Sevens Player of the Year Ollie Phillips (Stade Francais).

Last season Barrett also helped England to win the cup trophies at the Wellington and London legs of the IRB Sevens World Series.

This Friday England will take on Russia, USA and Kenya on day one and Barrett is looking forward to leading his team to the field.

“I’m really excited. Ben (Ryan) gave me the news the other day and I felt very privileged but we have lots of leaders in this team like Ben Gollings (Gold Coast), Chris Cracknell, Isoa Damudamu (British Army) and James Rodwell (Moseley RFC) so I’m hoping I can call on all of them.” said Barrett.

England have been training hard since arriving in Dubai last week and this season Ryan welcomes the likes of U20s speedster Christian Wade (London Wasps) to his side as well as the return of Dan Caprice (Blackheath) and Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby).

Continued Barrett, “We have benefitted from coming out a bit earlier this year and today’s training session was one of the best we’ve had since we arrived.

“I’ve been playing sevens for a while now but to go out as captain on Friday will be a proud moment and I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Kev has been an integral part of the squad for the last two seasons and deserves the captaincy, he’s a model professional and an outstanding player.” concluded Ryan.

England Sevens squad for Dubai and South Africa

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)

Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens fixtures:

December 4, England v USA, kick off 10.04am local time (GMT+4)

December 4, England v Russia, kick off 1.40pm local time (GMT+4)

December 4, England v Kenya, kick off 6.52pm local time (GMT+4)

Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens fixtures:

December 11, England v Tunisia, kick off 12.04am local time (GMT +2)

December 11, England v Argentina, kick off 3.10pm local time (GMT +2)

December 11, Scotland v England, kick off 7.32pm local time (GMT +2)