Tuesday 4 December 2007
Try scoring Elliott has George on his mind
Try star Anthony Elliott has George in his sights as England bid to banish their Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens heartache this weekend.
The Bristol Rugby winger's joy at scoring five tries in as many games last weekend was tempered by their semi-final defeat.
And the 26-year-old 'veteran' wants to prove that England's young squad - five of the 12 are sevens newcomers having earned their first England caps in Dubai can go all the way in South Africa.
Elliott, who last played for England Sevens in the 2000/01 season said, "I think we did well in Dubai, obviously we we're all disappointed to miss out on the final but George will be our chance to go out and prove to ourselves and our fans that we can make it all the way.
"As a squad we know we have a tough pool in George but we have to stick together and perform. I have already learned so much from everyone, the other players and coaches, on and off the field and it has been amazing to play on an international stage in front of the fans in Dubai.
"Since arriving in South Africa we have started working out in the gym and settling into the hotel, tomorrow we will start our training and get focussed for Friday's tournament."
For coach Ben Ryan it's time to put Dubai behind them and concentrate on the task ahead as he explains,
"Last week we showed some major improvements over the two days in Dubai and if I'm honest it took time to really put the semi-final loss behind us. Now we're in George, we are all looking forward to continuing our journey on the field and improving again.
"We have a very tough pool, harder than in Dubai and need to be on top of our game just to get through our pool to the knock outs. But we have set our goals for this week and we will do all we can to keep learning, keep improving and hopefully add some more layers to our team play.
"This is a very mentally strong group of players and I'm sure we will be up to the challenges ahead. We remain firm underdogs and have plenty to do to hit the heights we all aspire to."
England face, Zimbabwe, Kenya and New Zealand on Friday 7 December at the Outeniqua Park,George.
To follow the England Sevens progress in the IRB Sevens World Series go to www.rfu.com/sevens
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