Odejobi ruled out of Marriott London Sevens

Posted on May 10, 2012 in England Sevens

England’s Mark Odejobi has been ruled out of the Marriott London Sevens after sustaining a broken bone in a foot.

And Isoa Damudamu – injured in last month’s Army v Navy Babcock Trophy match – faces knee surgery and a long spell out of the game.

Former England Under 20 wing Odejobi was injured after coming off the bench in the second half of England’s 40-7 victory over Kenya on day one at Scotstoun.

It leaves Head Coach Ben Ryan with one place to fill in the 12-man squad for the Marriott London Sevens at Twickenham this weekend.

Former captain Andy Vilk (Rugby Lions), Bristol-based Simon Hunt and newcomer Jeff Williams, a centre who played in the French Federale 1 league with RC Chateaurenard this season, are all in contention for the final spot as England aim to take another step forward after beating Australia, South Africa and Fiji before falling to champions New Zealand in the Glasgow final.

“It’s a tough break for Mark who’d come back from injury and trained hard with us – and he was only on the field for three minutes,” said Ryan.

“But we’ll go with what we’ve got and bring in one of the three who’ve been training with us  regularly.

“Andy Vilk and Simon Hunt are experienced sevens internationals who’ve played and won big tournaments with England while Jeff has impressed us with the way he’s fitted into the group in the last month.”

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Odejobi set for England Sevens debut in Las Vegas

Posted on Feb 11, 2011 in Rugby News

Former England Under 20 wing Mark Odejobi is set to make his England Sevens debut in Las Vegas this weekend.

The 23-year-old from London has been called up for the USA Sevens to replace Isoa Damudamu, who returned home after last weekend’s NZI Sevens in Wellington for treatment to a shoulder injury.

Odejobi joins an England side riding high at the top of the HSBC Sevens World Series after one tournament win and two runners-up places in the first three stages of the eight event series.

"Mark’s played in a Junior World Championship final on the wing, played for England’s age group teams and has trained with us for the last year," said head coach Ben Ryan.

"It’s a great opportunity for him to establish himself and he’s a powerful player."

Odejobi, who has played for Esher this season in the RFU Championship, joined the side earlier this week for a key stage in the series and a unique tournament.

England triumphed in the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens but were beaten in George and Wellington by New Zealand, going down 29-14 in last weekend’s final, something Ryan’s side want to make amends for in Nevada in front of a live NBC TV audience.

On Saturday, they face Guyana (5.24pm), France (9.40pm) and Argentina (12.51am Sunday) in Pool A on the opening day with Kenya the likely quarter final opponents (5am Sunday) if they top the group.

"Everything’s different in Vegas," said Ryan. "We play with a different ball on a narrow pitch and with four games [rather than three] on day one but we knew about all that in advance and it’s important that we maintain the consistency we’ve shown so far this season.

"New Zealand have come back at us over the last two legs and have had the upper hand so now we want to rewind and get back to where we were in Dubai."

England do have the advantage of being led by points machine Ben Gollings, who is on the threshold of another staggering sevens landmark in Vegas.

The captain has a world record 2,495 series points – including 210 tries – banked since his series debut in 1999 and should go through the 2,500 barrier on the opening day.

A measure of achievement is how far ahead of the opposition Gollings now is. In second place is the Fijian legend Waisale Serevi, nearly 1,200 points behind.

England Sevens
Greg Barden (Royal Navy)
John Brake (England Sevens)
Dan Caprice (England Sevens)
Chris Cracknell (England Sevens)
Ben Gollings (England Sevens)
Simon Hunt (Birmingham & Solihull)
Nick Royle (England Sevens)
Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby)
Mark Odejobi (Unattached)
Tom Powell (England Sevens)
James Rodwell (England Sevens)
Mathew Turner (England Sevens)

England sevens lose out to NZ in final

Posted on Feb 7, 2011 in Rugby News

HSBC Sevens World Series leaders England went down 29-14 to New Zealand in today’s final of the NZI Sevens in Wellington.

Isoa Damudamu (British Army) scored early on and Simon Hunt (Birmingham & Solihull) struck in the closing moments with Ben Gollings supplying the conversions.

But a Declan O’Donnell hat trick and scores from Tomasi Cama and Toby Arnold saw the hosts home.

The two sides are locked together at the top of the series rankings, with England still leading by virtue of having reached all three tournament finals so far this season.

And they now head for next weekend’s USA Sevens in Las Vegas determined to make amends for their Westpac Stadium setback.

Head coach Ben Ryan said: “There were a couple of cucial points, the key being early in the second half when New Zealand got the score that took them away from us, but we’re still top on finals reached and still No.1.

“It hurts losing here and we’ll be using this as ammunition to make sure we do a job next weekend. We’ll see how good we are in Law Vegas.”

Earlier England booked their place in the semi finals with a 14-7 win against Argentina.

Damudamu scored his first try of the tournament and Dan Norton his fourth before the break with Gollings’s two conversions taking England into a 14-0 interval lead.

But a Ramiro Moyano try made the last two minutes tense before England closed out the game.

Ryan’s men then edged out reigning series champions Samoa 7-5 at the semi final stage, John Brake’s try and a Gollings conversion seeing them home.

England vs. Wales: Part 1

Posted on Feb 2, 2011 in Rugby News

England v Wales (Part One) kicks off on Friday morning on the opposite side of the world from the Millennium Stadium.

Ben Ryan’s England Sevens side lead the HSBC Sevens World Series after the first two legs and tackle the Welsh on the opening day of the NZI Sevens in Wellington – 11 hours before the RBS 6 Nations clash between the countries gets under way in Cardiff.

England, chasing a first ever sevens world title, top the table after December’s tournament win in Dubai and second place in George. They are out to emulate a dramatic 2009 triumph in Wellington, when Isoa Damudamu clinched victory with the last play in the final against the hosts.

To reach the knock out stages this time, they need to find a way past Friday’s Pool A opponents the USA (01.28 GMT) and the Cook Islands (04.24) before taking on Wales (08.34).

“Whatever happens in the future that 2009 win remains one of our top moments,” said Ryan. “It’s very easy to discard what’s happened in the past sometimes, but the guys in 2009 set the ball rolling for us.

“This year we’re fitter, we’ve had more contact time together and we’ve gelled more as a team. We’re in good shape as series leaders but we want to improve on two good peformances so far here in Wellington and the following week in Las Vegas.

“We’re all still annoyed at losing to New Zealand in the final at George. It’s something that rankles with us and this is our first chance to rectify that.”

England have made only one change for Wellington and Las Vegas with Nick Royle coming into the 12-man squad in place of the injured Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins).

But despite their status as series leaders, the opening day in Wellington throws up three tricky games – no more so than the potentially decisive clash with Wales.

“Wales are last up on the day and while we haven’t lost to them for three years they’ll be desperate to beat us here,” said Ryan. “They’ve got a consistent group of players and a settled group of management now and are much better for it.

“The Cook Islands have beaten all three of the sides in the group in the past and this is their Olympic Games. They’re dangerous and play a very off-the-cuff unstructured game.

“The other side, the USA, are very structured and professional and if they get their tails up they are very good and played well enough to hit one of the cup finals last year.”

England squad for Wellington and Las Vegas
Greg Barden (Royal Navy)
John Brake (England Sevens)
Dan Caprice (England Sevens)
Chris Cracknell(England Sevens)
Isoa Damudamu (British Army)
Ben Gollings (England Sevens, captain)
Simon Hunt (Birmingham & Solihull)
Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby)
Tom Powell (England Sevens)
James Rodwell (England Sevens)
Nick Royle (Fylde)
Mathew Turner (England Sevens)

Ulster squad vs Leinster

Posted on Dec 22, 2010 in Rugby News

The Ulster squad, from which the starting XV and replacements to play Leinster at Ravenhill on Monday 27th December (ko 4pm) will be selected, has been named.

With the Irish international players unavailable for selection under the Player Management Programme, Brian McLaughlin’s side for the Magners’ League interprovincial derby will have a different look to those which recorded back-to-back Heineken Cup wins over Bath in recent weeks.

The Ulster starting XV and replacements will be named on Friday at noon.

Meanwhile, with an almost sell-out crowd, grounds-staff at Ravenhill are working hard to ensure a playable surface and safe ground for spectators on 27th December. The pitch is in good condition and well insulated under the lying snow and we are bringing in machinery to help scrape the snow and frost from the terraces and walkways.

ULSTER SQUAD FORWARDS
Declan Fitzpatrick, Paddy McAllister, Bryan Young, BJ Botha, Jerry Cronin, Nigel Brady, Andi Kyriacou, Tim Barker, Neil McComb, Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy, Ryan Caldwell, TJ Anderson, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Willie Faloon, Pedrie Wannenburg

ULSTER SQUAD BACKS
David McIlwaine, Adam D’Arcy, Jamie Smith, Simon Danielli, Tommy Seymour, Craig Gilroy, Luke Marshall, Nevin Spence, Ian Whitten, Ian Humphreys, Niall O’Connor, Paul Marshall, Ruan Pienaar