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Promising Start for England Sevens
10 December 2007
When announcing his squad for this year's Emirates Airline Dubai and South Africa Sevens coach Ben Ryan said,"It's time now for these players to step up and put potential into actual. These players have the chance to move through into the very top of the senior game."
With this in mind England went into the IRB World Sevens Series as underdogs, new and unproven and although they may not have brought home any silverware from the first two tournaments, the two highly entertaining weeks showcased some outstanding individual performances.
Reaching the cup semi finals in Dubai was no mean feat for England, players such as: Jack Adams (Gloucester), Ben Foden (Sale Sharks), Tom Guest (Harlequins) and last minute try scorer against quarter finalists Samoa, Simon Hunt (Ebbw Vale) all showed immense talent on the world stage. Bristol's Anthony Elliott finished among the Dubai tournaments top eight try scorers confirming his talent.
Having made it to the cup semi finals in Dubai, England were denied a place in the final when Ben Foden's last minute try against Fiji was disallowed leaving Fiji to win the match by one point.
Said coach Ben Ryan, "Today we stood up to the challenge against Fiji and I'm proud of what these players have achieved. The players learned some quick lessons. I look back to the Samoa match and the last two minutes where we were patient and it really showed how they'd come on."
So England moved onto George, South Africa hoping to go one better. But losses to Kenya and New Zealand on the first day meant that they were playing for the bowl.
During the quarter and semi finals England recorded some great victories beating Canada 35-7 and Australia 29-14 to reach the bowl final, which they ultimately lost to Wales. Once again players stood up to the challenge, Joe Simpson (London Wasps) scoring four tries and two conversions during the tournament, Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers) scoring the only try against Kenya and tries from Simon Hunt (Ebbw Vale) against New Zealand and Australia proved that he is a consistent performer.
Isoa Damudamu (Newbury Blues) turned out to be England's secret weapon during both tournaments showing great skills and making some fantastic runs. Captain Andy Vilk showed his leadership qualities guiding his young team to five wins throughout.
Coach Ben Ryan knows that there are still improvements to be made but sees definite potential, "Some of these inexperienced players are still learning." he said.
"They have proved over the past tournaments that they’re capable of great achievements but we must learn from the mistakes. The job for us now is to keep consistency with player selection and keep improving.”
The next IRB Sevens World Series destination is New Zealand on the 1 and 2 February 2007
England's results so far:
Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens
Pool
England 27-12 Tunisia
England 24-24 Canada
South Africa 22-10 England
Cup quarter final
Samoa 19-26 England
Cup semi final
England 21-22 Fiji
Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens
Pool
England 24-7 Zimbabwe
England 7-17 Kenya
New Zealand 26-24 England
Bowl quarter final
England 35-7 Canada
Bowl semi final
England 29-14 Australia
Bowl final
England 14-21 Wales
For further information on England Sevens go to rfu.com/sevens |
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