England Sevens make changes for fourth leg of HSBC Sevens World Series

Posted on Jan 18, 2013 in England Sevens

England have made three changes to their squad for next month’s Hertz Sevens in New Zealand

Head coach Ben Ryan welcomes back Mathew Turner and Christian Lewis-Pratt from injury with Sam Edgerley also heading for Wellington for the February 1-2 tournament.

England, who depart for Wellington next week, face hosts New Zealand, the USA and Spain on the opening day of the fourth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

And Ryan is happy to have more players becoming available as the injury crisis that struck England in the opening rounds begins to ease.

Turner – last year’s leading global try-scorer – broke an ankle in the opening leg of the series in October, while Lewis-Pratt missed out on legs two and three in Dubai and Port Elizabeth with an ankle injury.

Chris Cracknell (knee reconstruction), Tom Mitchell (broken leg) and former captain Ollie Phillips (calf) are sidelined but uncapped forwards Mike Ellery (back) and Jack Preece (knee reconstruction) are close to comebacks and in the final stages of rehabilitation. Also ruled out of the next leg were Mark Odejobi (foot) and Ollie Marchon (ankle).

"We’re slowly getting players fit again so by the time we get to (leg six) in Hong Kong we should have everyone available so the outlook’s getting brighter," said Ryan.

"It’s good to welcome back Mat and Christian, who are influential players, and we’ll be easing them back into action in New Zealand.

"But we face a very tough first day in Wellington. New Zealand will be a very difficult assignment in the opening game and the USA and Spain have both stepped up a gear this season.

"We’ve worked very hard since the last leg in Port Elizabeth and our aim is to continue improving the level of our performance on our previous three outings."

England’s recent record in Wellington is good. They won the title there in 2009, reached the semi finals in 2010, were beaten finalists in 2011 and Lewis-Pratt’s two tries helped them win the third place play-off against Samoa last season.

England squad: Dan Bibby, John Brake, Chris Brightwell, Sam Edgerley, Christian Lewis-Pratt, Dan Norton, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Mathew Turner, Rob Vickerman (captain), Marcus Watson, Jeff Williams.

IRB Announces New Qualifying Pathway for HSBC Sevens World Series

Posted on Sep 19, 2012 in IRB, Sevens

The International Rugby Board has announced details of the exciting new qualification pathway into the HSBC Sevens World Series, as the sport enters its first Olympic cycle and continues to build towards its Games debut in 2016.

For the 2012/13 season, which kicks off on Australia’s Gold Coast on October 13-14 2012, the number of core teams that participate in each of the nine rounds has increased from 12 to 15, following the qualification of Canada, Portugal and Spain.

From the end of the 2012/13 Series, promotion and relegation from core team status will come into effect, with a pre-qualifying competition in Hong Kong and a final core team qualifier in London at the ninth and final round of the season.

The 2013 Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens will feature 28 teams, an increase on the usual 24, and will comprise two distinct competitions: In the first, the 15 current core teams and the winner of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series will compete for the famous Hong Kong title and World Series points. In the second competition, 12 teams – two qualifiers from each of the six regional tournaments – will compete for places at the core team qualifying final in London.

The Marriott London Sevens, the final round of the Series, will also feature two distinct tournaments, and a total of 20 teams. In the first, the top 12-ranked sides in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings after round eight in Glasgow will compete for the London title, and final World Series points towards their overall tally. In the second, the 13th, 14th and 15th-ranked core teams after the Glasgow event will compete against five pre-qualified regional teams from Hong Kong, for the three available core team places on the 2013/14 HSBC Sevens World Series.

The introduction of the exciting new format is in line with the comprehensive IRB Sevens Plan that was developed in partnership with the IRB’s Member Unions and approved by the IRB Council last November. It reflects the IRB’s mission to deliver a pathway that ensures all Member Unions have a transparent and merit-based opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games in 2016.

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: "As we enter our first four-year Olympic cycle for Rugby Sevens and build towards Rio 2016, it is important that the opportunity exists for all nations to progress to Series core team status if they are good enough.

"We are confident that this new system provides every nation competing in their regional qualifying tournament with a direct chance to gain core team status and compete on every round of the World Series.

"We are also accelerating towards our Olympic Games debut in Rio and this change to the Series structure underscores our commitment to ensuring a transparent opportunity-for-all pathway to the Games."

England face Samoa, Kenya and Spain on first day of new HSBC Sevens World Series

Posted on Sep 17, 2012 in England Sevens

England will face Samoa, Kenya and Spain on the opening day of the HSBC Sevens World Series on October 13.

The draw was made today for the Gold Coast Sevens in Australia, the first of nine legs in this season’s series which concludes with the Marriott London Sevens next May.

England finished third in last season’s competition, with Samoa in fourth place and Kenya 12th. Spain are a new ‘core’ team after finishing second in the qualifying competition in Hong Kong this year.

England have an expanded squad of 19 full-time players this season led by head coach Ben Ryan and warmed up last weekend against Spain and France in Villajoyosa.

Ryan said: “We’re in excellent shape after a very demanding pre-season programme and standards in the squad have been driven up by the intense competition for places.

“The draw for the Gold Coast brings home just how close we are now to the kick-off of what promises to be the biggest season ever for sevens. We’re in the Olympic cycle now with the HSBC Sevens World Series followed immediately by the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow next June.

“Every draw is a difficult one now: Samoa were tough to play throughout last season, Kenya always give us tough games and we know Spain really well – they’ve got lots of talent and will want to prove they deserve their place at the top table.”

The cross-over for the knock-out stages means England potentially face Fiji or Australia in the quarter-finals if they make it out of Pool C.

Champions New Zealand face South Africa, the USA and newcomers Canada in Pool A while Wales are in a competitive Pool D with Argentina, France and Portugal.

Gold Coast Sevens draw:

Pool A – New Zealand, South Africa, USA, Canada

Pool B – Fiji, Australia, Scotland, Tonga

Pool C – England, Samoa, Kenya, Spain

Pool D – Argentina, Wales, France, Portugal

England Sevens squad:

Dan Bibby, John Brake, Chris Brightwell, Chris Cracknell, Sam Edgerley, Mike Ellery, Christian Lewis-Pratt, James Lightfoot-Brown, Tom Mitchell, Dan Norton, Mark Odejobi, Ollie Phillips, Tom Powell, Jack Preece, James Rodwell, Mathew Turner, Rob Vickerman, Marcus Watson, Jeff Williams.

Glamour Opener for Welsh in Amlin–Full Amlin Fixture List

Posted on Jul 31, 2012 in London Welsh

Tournament newcomers, London Welsh, will begin their Amlin Challenge Cup campaign with a high-profile home game against star-studded Stade Francais Paris at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday, 13 October.

The clash of the European debutants and the 2011 defeated finalists is just one of a number of intriguing match-ups featured in the announcement today (Tuesday, 31 July) by tournament organisers, ERC, of the fixtures, dates, kick-off times and live TV coverage for the opening four rounds of the 2012/13 Amlin Challenge Cup.

2006 champions, Gloucester Rugby, will have the honour of getting the European club rugby season underway when they travel to newly-promoted Top 14 club, Mont-de-Marsan, on Thursday, 11 October, while in the same highly-competitive Pool 1, London Irish will also be in France for a demanding tournament kick-off against Bordeaux-Bègles on Saturday, 13 October.

Stade Francais will move to a new Amlin Challenge Cup venue when they take on Grenoble in an all-French Round 2 clash at Stade Océane in Le Havre on Saturday, 20 October.

London Wasps, who triumphed back in 2003, will begin their quest for another coveted European title with an Anglo-Welsh tie against Newport Gwent Dragons at Adams Park on Saturday, 13 October, while the 2008 champions, Bath Rugby, will face an away trip to Bucharest Wolves in Pool 4.

Worcester Warriors, who were defeated by Bath in that 2008 final, will break new ground when they travel to Spain to take on Bizkaia Gernika RT in Pool 2 also on Saturday, 13 October.

Twenty clubs from six countries will compete in the 2012/13 tournament with three clubs – London Welsh, Rugby Mogliano from Italy, and Spain’s Bizkaia Gernika RT – making their first appearances in Europe.

Full fixture list can be downloaded here

Hodgson and Williams in England Sevens squad for European series opener

Posted on May 28, 2012 in England Sevens

Newcastle Falcons half back Joel Hodgson and Bristol wing Matt Williams will make their first England Sevens appearances in the opening round of the FIRA-AER European GP Sevens Series.

England will use this summer’s tournaments in Lyon (June 2-3), Moscow (June 30-July 1) and Odense (July 7-8) to integrate new recruits into their squad as well as monitoring the progress of others outside the full-time set-up.

Hodgson, 19, is a former England Under 18 star who made seven first team appearances for the Falcons this season, while Williams, 23, is acknowledged as one of the quickest men in the professional game.

They join new full-time signings Mike Ellery, Jack Preece, Dan Bibby and Jeff Williams in the group heading for France.

Ellery and Preece have joined from Moseley and Birmingham & Solihull respectively, while Bibby (UWIC) and Jeff Williams (RC Chateaurenard) made their debuts in this season’s HSBC Sevens World Series.

They feature alongside experienced campaigners John Brake, Tom Powell, Nick Royle, Rob Vickerman and Andy Vilk, while the uncapped Aaron Myers (Westoe) also appeared in last year’s European tournaments.

England face Ukraine, Spain, Scotland and Georgia on the opening day of the competition and remaining Pool B opponents the Netherlands on day two before the knock-out stages get under way. They are the title holders after Brake’s hat-trick earned them a 28-14 win over Spain in last year’s final.

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