Tuesday 28th November 2006

Twelve months ago Andy Vilk was celebrating victory in his first Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens tournament.  England beat Fiji in a thrilling final in front of 30,000 screaming fans and Vilk remembers the occasion with fondness.  "You grow up watching and hearing peoplepassionately singing Swing Low when England play at Twickenham.  When we were playing in the final in Dubai last year, the crowd started to sing it really loudly and it was incredible.  It really gives you a boost as a player and makes you realise you are living your dream of playing for your country."

The powerful young centre, currently playing for Sedgeley Park on loan from his club Sale Sharks, is a core member of the England Sevens squad for the second year running.  He played in all eight IRB Sevens tournaments last season, as well as winning silver at the Commonwealth Games and enjoys his time on sevens duty.  "Sevens is a fantastic opportunity for any young player.  It takes youngsters and puts them into big international environments and tests them.  Not only are the core skills tested but England also get to see how players cope with the pressure of playing in front of big crowds and against top international players.  As a player you want to succeed at premiership level and for your country and to do that you have to be able to cope with the big occasions and you have to have top drawer skills. Sevens will hopefully continue to improve my XVs game every time I play."

Andy arrived back in Dubai yesterday morning, ahead of Friday's tournament, and is looking forward to playing once again at the Exiles Rugby Club in Dubai. "The tournament is phenomenal.  Other than in front of our home crowd at Twickenham, I reckon that Dubai has the noisiest crowd and rivals Hong Kong as the most supportive of England.  I can't wait to get on the pitch on Friday."

Andy is one of only five players within the squad to have played England Sevens before but doesn't believe that will stop them in their quest to claim a treble victory.  "It doesn't matter what has happened in previous years as this is a completely new squad with seven uncapped players.  But whilst we may be an unknown quantity to some people, we have some exceptionally talented players in our 12 and training has been good.  The IRB Sevens is so competitive however, that we are realistic and know that any number of teams could win this weekend. The South Africans look particularly strong this year, whilst the Fijians, Australians and Kiwis are always a threat. We also face a tough pool with Scotland – who always raise their game against us, and France.  Whenever the English play the French it's always a big game so we know that topping our group will be a challenge."

Vilk moved to Sale from Northampton Saints in the summer and is enjoying his new club, despite an unlucky start to the season.  "I unfortunately got injured at the beginning of the season and have only recently been back playing, so I have been building up my match experience by playing at Sedgeley Park. Everyone at Sale has been great though and I am enjoying the new experiences."

Keep up to date with Andy and Englands progress in Dubai at rfu.com/sevens