Friday 10th February 2006

England Sevens coach Mike Friday knows that England have a tough challenge this weekend if they are to reduce the gap between them and first placed Fiji in the IRB Sevens series. England trail Fiji by 16 points and Friday knows that England must do well this weekend to ensure they remain in with a chance of winning their first ever IRB Sevens series.  “Fiji are in the back of minds but we are not in control of them, so we can’t worry too much about what they are up to.  All we can control is our own performances and the guys are focusing on doing themselves justice on the pitch.  If we can play to our potential then we are more than capable of winning this tournament.”

“I am pleased with how this week has gone. It has been a difficult week though.  After the disappointment of Wellington last weekend (England lost to France in the quarter finals but won the Plate Final), the boys have had to deal with that disappointment all week. They have been a concerted effort this week to address the issues that they felt did not go according to plan on and off the pitch.  That has meant that we have been a very close knit group this week which is good. They are paying close attention to the small things and the preparation that can make all the difference come game day.  Everyone is looking to eradicate the small errors that were made last weekend and which cost us so dearly in the game against France.

I am confident that they have taken everything on board. They have trained very well this week, and seem to be doing everything right in the build up to the competition. The proof will be in the pudding tomorrow when they run out for the first match against the Kenyans.

The biggest positive that we can take from last weekend is that the youngsters have realized that on the big stage it’s the little things that matter.  Hopefully they will realize they have to be 110% in terms of accuracy and concentration in order to get the success that they deserve.

Another lesson that they have learned is that you can only focus on the game ahead of you – you can’t worry about what might come later. Tomorrow everyone will focus on the Kenya match and not be worrying about the France game which is our last match of the day.   It will be a big game for us at the end of the day and these players want to right the wrong of last week but I am hoping they concentrate on Kenya and USA first."

This is the final leg of the IRB Sevens before Friday selects the squad for the Commonwealth Games in March.  He says “There are still places up for grabs and these players know they can play themselves into and out of the team by their performance here in LA this weekend.  They are all keen to try and ensure they are on the plane to Australia so I am looking forward to some good performances.”

England face Kenya at 12.12pm (8.12pm GMT) tomorrow (Saturday).

Full match reports and player interviews will be available on www.rfu.com/sevens

Ends.