England, who are currently ranked fifth in the series, kick off their Twickenham campaign against Portugal.  The Portuguese have improved during the last couple of years and beat Canada in Hong Kong last month to reach the semi final of the Plate competition. 

England's second pool game match on the opening day of the tournament is Wales.  Wales have participated in four of the six IRB Sevens tournaments to date this season and have won silverware on every occasion.  The squad coached by Dai Rees won the Shield in Dubai, the Plate in South Africa and Hong Kong and the Bowl in this month's Adelaide Sevens.  Their success this season means Wales have won an unprecedented eight trophies in eight tournaments in the IRB Sevens.

England's final opponents (and the final match on Day One at 17.58) are South Africa - a team England have battled with on several occasions already this season.   South Africa have boasted a strong squad all season and won the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens at the start of the season and currently sit just above England in fourth place.  The Springboks will come to Twickenham with reinforcements as Paul Treu's side are expected to be boosted by the return of their Super 14 players including Phillip Burger and Kabamba Floors - both of whom were in action for the senior Springbok team against England at Twickenham last November.

Speaking on the draw England Sevens Coach Ben Ryan said,  "This is about as tough a pool as you can get.  We have played South Africa three times this season and lost each time but at the same time it can sometimes work in your favour having one of the big sides in your pool as if you win then you can avoiding meeting them again until the final. 

"Wales are taking sevens really seriously now and will be playing the whole IRB Sevens series next year so we cannot underestimate them.  We played them once this year in George and drew with them and it is always a big occasion when the Welsh and English meet.  And finally Portugal, who are still on a high from qualifying for the senior Rugby World Cup, have provided several shocks in sevens this year.

"Having said that, England do have the massive advantage of playing on home soil and for the first time this season we will not have to deal with crossing time zones, jet lag or foreign climates.  And the benefit of playing in front of a home crowd is huge - if the England boys can't get themselves up for performing for their country at Twickenham then they are in the wrong job.  This will be the first time fans will get the chance to see the new look England Sevens team in action and everyone will want to impress the home crowd."

England won the Emirates Airline London Sevens in 2004 and 2003, and will be keen to record another Twickenham victory.  England Sevens Captain Simon Amor said, "We are fortunate enough to play all over the world in some fantastic stadiums but there is no where quite like Twickenham.  It is an amazing, childhood dream for any rugby player to play at Twickenham and the support we receive from the home crowd is really special. 

"For anyone who hasn't experienced international sevens before I would encourage you to come along and try it.  It is non-stop rugby action and it doesn't matter if you don't know much about rugby, you can just join in the party in the stands!"

Sixteen teams will play in the Emirates Airline London Sevens in 44 matches over the two day tournament.  Tickets are available from just £10 from Ticketmaster 0870 902 0000.  The first match (Fiji v. Argentina) begins at 9.00am on Saturday 26th May.  Sunday's finals day action begins at 11.00am. 

Emirates Airline London Sevens pools:
Pool A -
Fiji
France
Argentina
Russia

Pool B -
Samoa
Australia
Canada
Georgia

Pool C -
New Zealand
Scotland
Kenya
Italy

Pool D -
South Africa
England
Wales
Portugal 

For the full match schedule please visit www.irbsevens.com

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