Key Facts
| Squad | England Sevens |
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| Position | Scrum half |
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| Age | 25 |
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| Height | 1.75m (5'9") |
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| Weight | 85kg (13st 5lb) |
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| IRB World Series | 31 events |
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Six years have passed since John Brake first represented England Sevens in San Diego. He went on to play in Adelaide and figured in six IRB events in 2007-08 when also sharing in the U20 Grand Slam winning campaign.
Before helping England to triumph over Samoa at Dubai in December 2010, his most recent HSBC Sevens World Series appearance had been at Adelaide in 2008. That was the year when John achieved what he regards as his career highlight at the Hong Kong tournament. He began it with a 60-metre try against Canada and added a second touchdown when Sri Lanka were beaten 47-7.
He has since taken his try tally to 35 in 31 tournaments. They include four in the 2010 George event, featured two in the 19-10 quarter-final win over South Africa and one in the 22-12 semi final victory over Samoa. He scored another two at Wellington in February 2011, two at Adelaide in early April and two more at Twickenham in May. After touching down against Samoa in Japan last March, he bagged three tries in the Glasgow tournament.
In May 2011, he was a member of Ben Ryan’s squad competing under the ‘Dig Deep England’ banner that beat a high-quality Saracens side 17-5 in the London Floodlit Sevens final at Roehampton, the home of Rosslyn Park.
Turning back the clock, Westminster-born John captained Millfield at Sevens and at 15-a-side level and also played for England U16 and U18 as well as Surrey and London & South East U16.
John featured in the back row for the national U18 side and made appearances on the wing for England U20 along the way to his role at scrum half. His versatility had stretched to playing hockey for Somerset and the West of England U14 and basketball for the county U15 team.
He joined the Northampton Saints Academy in 2006-07, helped the club’s Wanderers side to success in the Guinness A League three years ago and made nine senior appearances dating back to his debut against Bedford Blues before being released in the summer of 2010. John helped Northampton to win promotion back to the Premiership in 2008 and has also spent time on loan to Cambridge.
Last updated: May 15, 2013
