England team manager Martin Johnson

England today named the 32-man Senior and Saxons Elite Player Squads for the 2010/11 season.

The changes made to the Senior EPS since the last announcement in January include the elevation of forwards David Attwood, George Chuter, Dan Cole, Paul Doran-Jones, Hendre Fourie and Tom Palmer. The backs promoted are Chris Ashton, David Strettle, Mike Tindall, Dominic Waldouck and Ben Youngs.

Players who appeared in the 2010 RBS 6 Nations stepping down into the Saxons EPS include Steve Borthwick, who led the side against Wales, Italy, Ireland and Scotland, Ugo Monye, Mathew Tait and Louis Deacon.

England Team Manager Martin Johnson said: “This was undoubtedly the most difficult EPS selection we’ve had to make in my time in the job. I think we’ve picked the best players and the fact that some experienced guys have missed out goes to show the depth we’ve now got.

“Leaving Steve Borthwick out was a very hard decision. He’s done a fantastic job for England over the last couple of years and it’s the most difficult call we’ve had to make. It is very tough on Steve but it goes to show the depth of talent we’ve got in that area.

“We want to build on what we’ve done this summer and a Southern Hemisphere tour that was hugely beneficial and a really positive experience for the group. We were able to give lots of opportunities to players and expose them to a high level of rugby.”

New faces who have won call-ups to the Saxons EPS are forwards Jon Golding, Luke Narraway, Geoff Parling and Tom Wood, and backs Anthony Allen, Charlie Hodgson and James Simpson-Daniel.

England have a week’s training camp at Twickenham from August 8 and four Investec Internationals this autumn against New Zealand (November 6), Australia (November 13), Samoa (November 20), South Africa (November 27).

ENGLAND EPS

Forwards

• David Attwood (Gloucester Rugby)
• George Chuter (Leicester Tigers)
• Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
• Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
• Paul Doran-Jones (Gloucester Rugby)
• Nick Easter (Harlequins)
• Hendre Fourie (Leeds Carnegie)
• Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
• James Haskell (Stade Francais)
• Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
• Lewis Moody (Bath Rugby)
• Tom Palmer (Stade Francais)
• Tim Payne (London Wasps)
• Simon Shaw (London Wasps)
• Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)
• Steve Thompson (Leeds Carnegie)
• David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
• Joe Worsley (London Wasps)

Backs

• Delon Armitage (London Irish)
• Chris Ashton (Northampton Saints)
• Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby)
• Danny Care (Harlequins)
• Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks)
• Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
• Riki Flutey (London Wasps)
• Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
• Shontayne Hape (Bath Rugby)
• David Strettle (Saracens)
• Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby)
• Dominic Waldouck (London Wasps)
• Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon)
• Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

ENGLAND SAXONS EPS

Forwards

• Steffon Armitage (London Irish)
• Duncan Bell (Bath Rugby)
• Steve Borthwick (Saracens)
• Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
• Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
• Louis Deacon (Leicester Tigers)
• Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)
• Jon Golding (Newcastle Falcons)
• Lee Mears (Bath Rugby)
• Matt Mullan (Worcester Warriors)
• Luke Narraway (Gloucester Rugby)
• Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
• Tom Rees (London Wasps)
• Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
• Andy Saull (Saracens)
• Dan Ward-Smith (London Wasps)
• Rob Webber (London Wasps)
• Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)

Backs

• Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby)
• Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
• Brad Barritt (Saracens)
• Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints)
• Alex Goode (Saracens)
• Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers)
• Paul Hodgson (London Irish)
• Charlie Hodgson (Sale Sharks)
• Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
• Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
• Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
• James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby)
• Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks)
• Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)

The 28-year-old hooker will join the club for the start of 2010/11 season and brings a wealth of playing experience to Sunbury after seven seasons in Dublin.

Blaney was educated at the famous rugby school of Terenure College, whose distinguished alumni include Conor O’Shea and Girvan Dempsey, before joining Leinster in 2003.

During his time with the current Heineken Cup champions, Blaney made 71 appearances and scored five tries. He has also been capped for Ireland A and Ireland Schools.

Speaking on his recruitment, Blaney said: “I am delighted to be joining such an exciting team as London Irish next season.

“The club has a great reputation in Ireland and I look forward to following in the footsteps of some of the great Irishmen who have played for the club.”

London Irish head coach Toby Booth added: “We are very pleased that Brian will soon be a London Irish player.

“He is a very experienced and tenacious hooker who will complement our current squad perfectly.

“Competition for places is paramount in our squad to sustain levels of performance and Brian will continue our strength and competiveness in the hooker position.”

Player Profile at a Glance

• Name: Brian Blaney (28)
• Position: Hooker
• International caps: – -
• Other representative honours: Ireland A, Ireland Schools
• Date of Birth: 26th February 1982
• Place of Birth: Dublin
• Former Clubs: Leinster
• Height: 1.88m (6′ 2″)
• Weight: 103kg (16st 2lbs)

Coach Kingsley Jones wants discipline against Leeds

Kingsley Jones is preparing for Sale Sharks Guinness Premiership match against Leeds Carnegie this Friday by concentrating on discipline.

Jones admits, “Leeds will be hard to beat. They’ve got a good set piece and they’re desperate for a win. It’s a game that a lot of things hinge on so we really need to improve our discipline in our game.”

The Sharks have given away 34 penalties so far this season which puts them in sixth place alongside Harlequins and London Wasps. “Every team is going to give penalties away. That’s life” said Jones. “If you set yourself targets, maybe get four or six for the team, then that’s good. Obviously people get tired and people make mistakes. This week, against Leeds, we can’t afford to give penalties away because of the territory they will gain.”

After a 16 – 22 defeat against London Wasps last weekend, Kingsley identified, “There were a couple of obvious penalties given to Wasps. It feels like three points were dropped, not one point gained to be honest with you. But we’ve come back into training this week and worked hard with the players so they understand the laws.”

“I’ve explained to the players this week exactly what’s required of them in the tackle area etcetera. We work very hard to make sure it’s clear regarding what they’re allowed to do and what they’re not allowed to do. Obviously, that’s in the perfect world, where they’d pick the ball up and score a try every time I told them to, and be disciplined. Unfortunately, that’s not reality. All we can do is keep working, analysing and making sure everybody does their best.”

Jones warns players ahead of this Friday’s match, “There are some stupid penalties that have to stop and we’ve said from the start of the season that we will select a team on discipline as well. Some players are better with discipline than others so they’ll start in front of them. Ultimately, the Premiership is so tight, discipline will cost you games and we cannot afford that against Leeds at home this Friday.”

John Fletcher: U18 coach

England Under 18 return to action on Sunday against the only side to have dented their impressive 14-match winning run. England, coached by John Fletcher and Peter Walton, haven’t been beaten in an international at this level since an 11-3 defeat against Australia in Brisbane in 2007.

But France – visitors to Newbury this weekend – edged past them in a training game last season and will threaten all over the field, according to former Newcastle Falcons boss Fletcher.

Fly half George Ford (Rishworth & Leicester Tigers) leads the side at Monks Lane and Fletcher makes seven changes to the team that beat Australian Schools 30-28 at Sale in December.

Injured Dulwich College and Harlequins lock Sam Twomey (knee) and Harrow and London Wasps flanker Billy Vunipola are replaced by George Merrick (Whitgift & Harlequins) and Will Skuse (Bryanston & Bath Rugby) respectively, while props Luke Cowan-Dickie (Truro Coll & Exeter Chiefs) and Anthony Brennan (Twyford CofE & London Wasps) make their first starts.

In the backline, Joel Hodgson (RGS Newcastle & Newcastle Falcons) takes over at scrum half, Ryan Mills (Hartpury Coll & Gloucester) comes in at inside centre and Charlie Walker (Oakham & Leicester Tigers) on the left wing.

“We played France last year in a training game – three 20 minute periods – and they beat us by a point after we’d scored three tries each,” said head coach Fletcher.

“They’ll be tough – big aggressive forwards, quick backs. We know what they’ll throw at us and last year they were very strong at Under 17 level.”

England, though, are buoyant after their last outing, when replacement wing Tommy Bell finished off a superb 80 metre attack to secure victory over an older Australian side at Heywood Road.

Fletcher added: “We try and develop players to play a game with a lot of threats, no matter what the opposition do. Wherever they’re looking to defend we look to score somewhere else, driving, kicking, moving the ball wide.

“The current squad are a good bunch. There’s hardly any carry over from last year so it takes time for a new squad to gel but they’ve come together well and that showed in the game they played against Australia. Scoring right at the end to win such a good game was really good for their spirit and morale.”

ENGLAND UNDER 18 (v France at Newbury, Sunday, 3pm)
15 Ben Ransom (Tonbridge & Saracens)
14 Marland Yarde (Whitgift & London Irish)
13 Elliot Daly (Whitgift & London Wasps)
12 Ryan Mills (Hartpury Coll & Gloucester)
11 Charlie Walker (Oakham & Leicester Tigers)
10 George Ford (Rishworth & Leicester Tigers, Captain)
9 Joel Hodgson (RGS Newcastle & Newcastle Falcons)
1 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Truro Coll & Exeter Chiefs)
2 Koree Britton (Ivybridge Coll & Exeter Chiefs)
3 Anthony Brennan (Twyford CofE & London Wasps)
4 George Merrick (Whitgift & Harlequins)
5 Dominic Barrow (Prince Henry’s GS Otley & Leeds Carnegie)
6 Will Skuse (Bryanston & Bath Rugby)
7 Chris Walker (Prince Henry’s GS Otley & Leeds Carnegie)
8 Matt Kvesic (Worcester Sixth Form Coll & Worcester Warriors)

Replacements
16 Nick Auterac (Oaklands Coll & Saracens)
17 Nathan Morris (Sedbergh & Newcastle Falcons)
18 Kyle Sinckler (Epsom Coll & Harlequins)
19 Will Spencer (St Paul’s Catholic Coll & London Wasps)
20 Sam Northcote-Green (Dulwich Coll & London Wasps)
21 Dan Robson (Hartpury Coll & Gloucester Rugby)
22 Jamie Elliott (Bedford & Northampton Saints)
23 Mark Jennings (Lymm HS & Sale Sharks)

The Exiles travel to Kingston Park for a 5.30pm kick-off, with Tait insisting that a victory is the absolute minimum requirement for his side to fulfil its top six ambitions.

“The players are talking the talk at the moment about finishing in the top half of the league, but now’s the time to see if they can back it up with their actions,” said the dual-code Scotland and Lions star.

“We can all sit here and say we’re going to finish in a Heineken Cup place, but if you don’t go out and win games then it’s just words.

“If the players are going to talk big about things like the top six then they need to bring in at least four points this weekend, it’s as simple as that.”

Having slipped out of the top half last weekend by virtue of their 25-13 defeat at Northampton, Tait said: “At the time I said to the guys that it was great to see them involved in such a big game and running a class team like Northampton so close.

“But as the days have gone by and we’ve watched the video back countless times, we’re actually disappointed that we didn’t win.

“I said earlier in the season when they did a bit of a job on us up here that Northampton were the best team we’ve seen all season, and they confirmed that opinion to me again on Saturday. They have an outstanding side with talent in every area, so it was good for our lads to be in the mix and test themselves against that quality of opposition.

“The senior players were saying in the changing room after the final whistle that the Northampton game was every bit as an intense as a Test match, and that’s what you want, to be tested to the absolute max.”

Rueing a couple of key errors, Tait added: “We were right in the game, we pushed them all the way but we gave away a couple of soft tries which cost us dear.

“The killer was really the one before half time, because at 10-10 on 39 minutes we were in with a great shout. Conceding with the last play of the half meant we were chasing the game, but it’s gone now and we just have to focus on improving.

“I thought we were worth a bonus point, but Phil Dowson did his utmost right at the end by diving in and killing a ruck under his own posts. Quick ball is the key now to playing rugby, and if we’re not going to stamp that kind of thing out with yellow cards then teams are just going to keep doing it. He dived right over the top and slowed it down, he should have got ten minutes but we’re not crying about it. We’ll just go back to the training field, work hard during the week and continue to improve.”

Having been a visible and audible presence in the stands at Franklin’s Gardens barking out instructions, Tait joked: “I’m definitely one of these coaches that gets involved in the game.

“Over the years I’ve tried chewing gum to keep me quiet and calm, but I just can’t do it. It’s not worth changing who you are, and I’ve always been like that. I jump up and down a fair bit, I shout things onto the pitch even though I know they probably can’t hear me, but I just love the game.

“As a coach you always want to empower your players to make decisions themselves based on what they see and experience out on the field of play, but sometimes with the wider view from the stands you pick up little tactical things or whatever that the players might not be able to see from down there in a heap of bodies.”

With left wing Charlie Amesbury among those taking heed of Tait’s words, the Scot said: “Charlie’s ears are probably tuned into my frequency, because the wingers are always closest to the stands and they tend to get the brunt of it.

“In fairness to Charlie he is someone I’m working really closely with, because I want to try and get him to that next level as a player. I’m trying to teach him ways of making the step up, and credit to the lad because he’s a great learner and he’s taking the advice on board.

“He was desperate to play against Chris Ashton on the weekend, because he’s in the England squad and he’s the top try scorer in the Guinness Premiership.

“Charlie thinks he’s as good as Ashton, but the tale I was always told as a youngster was that you watch your opposite number and compare notes after the game. When your man comes out with two tries and you don’t have any that tells you who came out top on that day, but Charlie’s a good kid and he’ll keep learning.”

Turning the focus towards Saturday’s opponents, Tait said: “I watched the London Irish v Bath game on TV on Sunday, and it’s making this part of the Guinness Premiership into an exciting one with a group of teams bunched up on similar numbers of points.

“Sides like Gloucester and Bath seem to be finding that extra bit of form, and judging by a few recent results London Irish seem to be struggling a little.

“Toby Booth will be flying into them this week though, they’ve got class players and I’m sure they’ll be coming out all guns blazing up here on Saturday. They’re a very physical side, we would expect them to have Paul Hodgson and Steffon Armitage back from England duty and we know it’s going to be a big challenge.

“We had a good win down there earlier in the season, we’ve watched them on tape and believe we have a few areas where we can attack. It’s all about accuracy, we have to be absolutely precise and if we achieve that then I’m confident we can get the job done.”

Tickets for Saturday’s game (kick-off 5.30pm) are available by calling 0871 226 60 60, via the official club website or from Kingston Park in person.

The independent Judicial Officer, HH Judge Jeff Blackett (England), found that David Attoub was guilty of foul play in contravention of Law 10.4 (l) in that he made contact with the eye / eye area of Ulster Rugby player Stephen Ferris (No 6) and that the offence was at the top end in the level of seriousness. Having taken into account any mitigating and aggravating factors the independent Judicial Officer suspended the player for a period of 70 weeks running up to and including 22 April, 2011.

The Independent Appeal Committee will be chaired by Professor Lorne Crerar (Scotland) and also comprise Rod McKenzie (Scotland) and Pat Barriscale (Ireland).

Under the IRB Recommended Sanctions for Offences Committed within the Playing Enclosure, contact with the eyes / eye area carries the following penalties:

Lower End: 12 weeks

Middle Range: 18 weeks

Top End: 24 weeks+

Maximum Sanction: 156 weeks

For a full list of IRB Recommended Sanctions please refer to ercrugby.com by pressing the following link: http://www.ercrugby.com/images/content/cupstandard/IRB_Sanctions.pdf

Independent Appeal Committee

a) Following a decision of an independent Disciplinary Hearing, both the Club/player and ERC have the right to appeal the decision of the Judicial Officer.

b) The initial independent Disciplinary Hearings are determined by an independent Judicial Officer. Appeal Hearings are determined by a three man independent Appeal Committee.

c) The independent Appeal Committee is chosen by the Chairman of the independent Disciplinary Panel, Professor Lorne Crerar.

d) The independent Judicial Officer who issued the decision being challenged may not sit on the independent Appeal Committee.

e) The full written decision of the Appeal Hearing will be made available on ercrugby.com/disciplinenews at a later date when the full written decisions for the Appeal hearing have been completed and issued to all parties.

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

Coach John Fletcher was always confident that his side had the talent to test the visitors and they fulfilled all his expectations in holding the whip-hand from the moment full-back Jonathan Joseph (London Irish) crossed for the opening try and fly-half Jake Sharp (Saracens) converted.

Sharp claimed the second after 19 minutes and converted his own score for a 14-0 lead and while Australian centre Matthew Garland cut the deficit with a 29th minute try to raise the visitors’ morale and make the interval scoreline 14-5.

However, a third try from wingman Earl Collins (Worcester Warriors) on 40 minutes opened up the lead once again, although once again the tourists refused to concede the struggle and rallied with a try by flanker Jack de Guingand that scrum-half and captain Matthew Lucas converted to bring his side within a score at 19-12.

Sharp then steadied the home team’s nerves with a penalty before leaving the field as a precaution ahead of an outing on the Saracens bench against Castres on Friday, but Joseph had the last word when he crossed for the final try after 68 minutes.

A cameo moment for the hosts came when 16-year-old replacement centre Mark Jennings from Lymm High School and Sale Sharks took the field when the management elected to use all their replacements.

The tourists now stay in the North West to prepare for their next game, an international against England Under 18s at Sale FC’s Heywood Road headquarters on Sunday (2pm), when coach Fletcher will once again be in charge.

“The game was very tough, physical battle,” said Fletcher: “We lacked precision at times and it was a bit scrappy but for us to score four tries against opposition of that calibre after only half a day’s preparation was a pretty good effort,” said Fletcher. “So far as the tourists are concerned, they compete well for the ball and they are very dangerous in broken play situations, as you would expect.”

England U19 Regional Academies 27 (Tries: Joseph 2, Sharp, Collins. Con: Sharp 2. Pen: Sharp) Australia Schools 12 (Tries: Garland, De Guingand. Con: Lucas)

England Academies squad: forwards: Harry Allen (Saracens), Pete Austin (London Irish), Ryan Bower (Leicester Tigers), Matt Everard (Leicester Tigers), Ben Glynn (Bristol Rugby), Tom Hicks (Northampton Saints), Sam Jones (London Wasps), Charlie Matthews (Harlequins), Jethro Rawling (Leicester Tigers), Ollie Steadman (Leeds Carnegie), Henry Thomas (Sales Sharks), Mako Vunipola (Bristol Rugby). Backs: Tommy Bell (Sales Sharks), Earl Collins (Worcester Warriors), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ryan Glynn (Sales Sharks), Mark Jennings (Sale Sharks), Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Jake Sharp (Saracens), Andy Short (Worcester), Sam Stuart (Harlequins), Marcus Watson (London Irish).

The discussions between Mr Rossborough and his advisors and RFU Chief Executive Francis Baron, RFU Management Board Chairman Martyn Thomas and RFU Company Secretary Karena Vleck were productive and will be ongoing.

However, the RFU has yet to hear from Andrew Green further to his statement about his intent to put Coventry Rugby Football Club Limited into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation which is not proving helpful.

The move came after the West Midlands club received a winding-up order from the Inland Revenue because of an outstanding tax bill believed to be around £400,000.

Players were ordered not to turn up for training on Tuesday and directors were told to lock up the Butts Park Arena ground, which is not owned by the club, with all staff being sent home.

In addition the RFU has not heard from, nor been made aware of, any legal advisors being appointed to complete the liquidation process and so, at the current time, the legal status of the club remains unclear.

It is the current view of the RFU that until legally confirmed otherwise the club continues to trade and is obligated to play its game against Bedford Blues on Friday night.

The club’s players have vowed to play on if a deal can be sorted out. Coventry, now the third Championship club to face a financial crisis this season following the problems at London Welsh and Birmingham and Solihull, are due to play Bedford on Friday night. If the club fail to fulfill the fixture, they could face expulsion from the RFU.

The players have agreed to play the game and the support is being offered by Coventry City Council. The offer by the Ricoh Arena and its shareholders, Coventry City Council and the Alan Edward Higgs Charity, to host the Bedford Blues game, was also welcomed and it is hoped they will continue to be so supportive until the situation is resolved.

Francis Baron said: “We are very keen to do whatever we can to maintain rugby in Coventry where there is a great history and tradition. We are hopeful that Peter and other interested parties can put in place a plan of action that assures the legal status of the club and can deliver long term certainty to the club. We will be working with Peter to help him where we can and are in dialogue with the other Championship clubs to ensure we maintain the integrity of the league.”

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)