Ground-breaking Work To Begin on Samoa High Performance Centre

Posted on Dec 13, 2010 in Rugby News

The construction of the Samoa Rugby Union’s (SRU) ground-breaking High Performance Facility will start today at Faleata with a special ceremony attended by the Prime Minister of Samoa and SRU Chairman, Hon. Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi.

The state-of-the-art facility will feature a High Performance gym, recovery and rehabilitation centre, four new training pitches, accommodation for up to 90 athletes and a dedicated administration centre for SRU staff. Construction is expected to be completed well ahead of Samoa’s Rugby World Cup preparation camp in August 2011.

The start of construction represents an important milestone for the SRU High Performance Programme, which is underwritten by International Rugby Board funding through strategic investments aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the global Game.

The IRB has contributed over GBP £1million to the project, which has been made possible through the donation of 36 hectares of land at the Faleata Sports Complex by the Samoan Government.

“The construction of the High Performance Facility in Samoa continues an impressive 12 months for Samoan Rugby,” said IRB Head of Development and Performance Mark Egan.

“Samoa’s high performance progress has been significant over the past year with IRB Sevens World Series and ANZ Pacific Nations Cup titles achieved and an impressive set of results during the recent November Tests.”

“In that regard, it is fitting that the facility will be ready for the Manu Samoa’s Rugby World Cup 2011 preparation camp next August and we are delighted to be partnering with the Samoa Rugby Union on this important project which we hope will elevate the SRU High Performance Programme to a new level.”

“Of course, this project would not have been possible without the significant support of the Samoan Government, and on behalf of the IRB I would like to extend our gratitude to the Prime Minister and his Government for the donation of land on which this impressive facility is being constructed,” added Egan.

Rugby is the national sport in Samoa and as excitement builds with the start of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series this month and Rugby World Cup 2011 less than nine months away, the SRU High Performance Facility is central to the Union’s Sevens and Rugby World Cup 2011 aspirations.

Chairman of the Samoa Rugby Union, the Hon. Tuilaepa is excited about the potential of the new facilities to enhance the capacity of Samoa’s Rugby performance at the regional and international level.

“The contribution and support accorded by IRB towards the elite development of Rugby in Samoa is acknowledged with deep gratitude,” said Tuilaepa ahead of the ceremony on Monday.

The special ceremony will commence at 17:00 (local time) on Monday, December 13 on the site at the Faleata Sports Complex.

England Sevens into semi finals at George

Posted on Dec 11, 2010 in Rugby News

England are two wins away from another title after beating the hosts 19-10 in the quarter finals of the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens.

Two John Brake tries, one by Isoa Damudamu and two conversions from captain Ben Gollings secured their place in the last four.

The last time these two sides met was in the bronze medal match at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where England were overtaken in the closing moments.

This time it was they who trailed at half time to tries from Cecil Afrika and Bernado Botha either side of half-back John Brake’s effort.

But they edged in front two minutes from time when Gollings converted a try from British Army forward Damudamu, then made sure with Brake’s second moments from time.

The result sets up a rematch of last weekend’s Dubai final with Samoa, who scored with the final play of the game to beat Wales 19-14. New Zealand meet Fiji in the other half of the draw.

It also guarantees England at least another 16 points to bank in the HSBC Sevens World Series rankings to add to the 24 earned by their title win in Dubai.

On the opening day of the tournament, they had beaten Kenya 21-5 and Russia 19-5 before a 20-7 defeat against New Zealand saw them finish second in Pool C.

Gollings, Brake and Damudamu scored the tries against Kenya with Dan Norton’s brace and Tom Powell’s effort seeing off Russia. Bristol wing Norton scored the only try against New Zealand.

England off to winning start at SA sevens

Posted on Dec 10, 2010 in Rugby News

Norton strikes twice at Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens

Two Dan Norton tries got England off to a winning start in the pool stages of the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens in George this morning.

The Bristol wing struck in each half as England beat Russia 19-5 in the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

England went into the game with 24 points already banked from their triumph at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens with the target of recording back-to-back tournament wins for the first time in the world tour’s 11-year history.

But Russia are a rapidly improving force on the sevens scene and in a tough group England were wary of another shock after suffering a 14-12 reverse at the hands of Portugal on day one in Dubai.

England got off to a flier in George with Norton scoring within 40 seconds of the kick-off before the underdogs proved hard to break down until forward Tom Powell powered over immediately before the interval for his first try of the series with Ben Gollings converting.

Norton’s second try and another Gollings conversion opened up a healthy 19-0 lead before Russia got on the board through Vladimir Ostroushko with Nikolay Goroshilov converting.

England face Kenya and New Zealand in the opening day’s other Pool C matches.

England Sevens: Tom Powell, Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby), James Rodwell, Dan Caprice, Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins), Ben Gollings, Chris Cracknell.

England into quarter finals

England booked their place in the quarter finals with a 21-5 win over Kenya in their second game of the day at the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens.

They now face New Zealand to see who finishes top of Pool C with South Africa or Argentina the likely opponents tomorrow in the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

England trailed early on in George against the dangerous Kenyan side to a Gibson Weru Kahuthia try but edged in front before the break after Horace Otieno was sin binned with a try and conversion from captain Ben Gollings.

British Army forward Isoa Damudamu and former Northampton Saints scrum half John Brake struck after the break with two more Gollings conversions securing a comfortable victory.

Earlier Dan Norton’s two tries got England off to a winning start in the pool stages as they beat Russia 19-5.

England went into the game with 24 series points already banked from their triumph at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens with the target of recording back-to-back tournament wins for the first time in the world tour’s 11-year history.

But Russia are a rapidly improving force on the sevens scene in a tough group and England were wary of another shock after suffering a 14-12 reverse at the hands of Portugal on day one in Dubai.

Norton, a Tom Powell effort and two Gollings conversions opened up a 19-0 lead before Russia got on the board through Vladimir Ostroushko with Nikolay Goroshilov converting.

Wales are also assured of a place in the quarter finals after impressive opening Pool A victories against Australia (33-15) and Scotland (19-7).

England Sevens v Russia: Tom Powell, Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby), James Rodwell, Dan Caprice, Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins), Ben Gollings, Chris Cracknell.

England Sevens v Kenya: Isoa Damudamu (British Army), Greg Barden (Royal Navy), Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby), James Rodwell, John Brake, Dan Caprice, Ben Gollings.

England Sevens face hosts South Africa in George quarter final

Posted on Dec 10, 2010 in Rugby News

England will face host nation in George in tomorrow’s quarter finals of the Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens.

Tonight’s 20-7 defeat by New Zealand saw England finish second in Pool C after earlier victories against Kenya and Russia.

England trailed 10-0 at the break to the Kiwis. They hauled themselves back into the game with wing Dan Norton’s third try of the day and a Ben Gollings conversion, only for DJ Forbes and Jackson Ormond to strike late on.

"We’d like to be beating New Zealand all the time and didn’t do ourselves justice," said head coach Ben Ryan. "We’re glad to get out of a tough pool but South Africa at home will be the toughest of the quarter finals."

Earlier England had opened the second leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series by seeing off Kenya 21-5 and Russia 19-5.

They trailed early on against the dangerous Kenyan side to a Gibson Weru Kahuthia try then edged in front before the break after Horace Otieno was sin binned with a try and conversion from captain Gollings.

British Army forward Isoa Damudamu and former Northampton Saints scrum half John Brake struck after the break with two more Gollings conversions securing a comfortable victory.

Earlier Bristol wing Norton’s two tries got England off to a winning start in the pool stages against Russia.

England went into the game with 24 series points already banked from their triumph at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens with the target of recording back-to-back tournament wins for the first time in the world tour’s 11-year history.

But Russia are a rapidly improving force on the sevens scene in a tough group and England were wary of another shock after suffering a 14-12 reverse at the hands of Portugal on day one in Dubai.

Norton, a Tom Powell effort and two Gollings conversions opened up a 19-0 lead before Russia got on the board through Vladimir Ostroushko with Nikolay Goroshilov converting.

England 7s reaction from the squad

Posted on Dec 6, 2010 in Rugby News

England produced a series of stunning performances to lift the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens trophy after coming from behind three times to beat Australia (24-21), New Zealand (19-14) and Samoa (29-21) in the knock-out stages and start the HSBC Sevens World Series in style.

They did so after losing on the opening day to Portugal and only rescuing a place in the last eight by beating Fiji with a try from the last play of the game.

England Sevens head coach Ben Ryan:

“We dug ourselves out of a great hole against Fiji and we played really well in the last three games. We all sat down last night and said it wasn’t the case of giving ourselves a pat on the back for beating Fiji. It was a reminder that we had to make the most of our chances and learn from what happened which we did. We can fight with the best of them and the boys proved that. We were relaxed and we were ruthless and it’s a good combination and they managed to hang on to that.

“Ollie Lindsay-Hague was brilliant, wasn’t he? He made a big difference as did Chris Cracknell. He was a rock and made some really good decisions. We’ve got some talented youngsters back home and Ollie played with the real exuberance of youth

“We’ve got to remain pretty humble. We’ve won one tournament at the beginning of the year but everyone will regroup and try and have a crack at us next weekend. The proof will be in how we run out in George next weekend.”

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