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Hosts England have named their strongest squad of the season for the defence of their London Sevens crown on 22-23 May.

Notable inclusions are Tom Varndell and Ollie Phillips, returning to England Sevens action for the first time this season at penultimate leg of the 09/10 IRB Sevens World Series. 

England international (4 caps) and Saxons speedster Varndell, returns to the sevens fold after helping them to reach the 2009 Rugby World Cup quarter-final in Dubai and adding to England's tally in Hong Kong and Adelaide.

Whilst Phillips, who won the 2009 IRB Sevens Player of the Year award, led England to two tournament victories last season in Wellington and London when they finished third overall, their highest ranking since 2006. Injury robbed the Stade Francais player of his place in Adelaide and Hong Kong.

Ben Ryan's initial 15-man squad is also bolstered by England Saxons scrum half Micky Young, who scored the winning try for England in last year's London final, and his Newcastle teammate Rob Vickerman.

Kevin Barrett, who captained the side at the beginning of the season, joins the squad again after recovering from a shoulder injury.

John Brake and Simon Hunt who impressed for Dig Deep England and St. George at the recent London Floodlit Sevens and ULR Sevens also recieve call-ups.

Hunt was in dominant form for National Sevens Series core side Samurai International at the Bury event, catching the eye of Ben Ryan.

Selection headache

“This is a great squad full of pace and X Factor and the training has been fantastic this week,” said Ryan

"It's very exciting to have such a good group and I know all the lads are really excited about the London weekend. Personally, it's been very hard selecting the squad and it's going to be even harder naming a starting side. There are going to be some fantastic sides out there next weekend and with a bit of luck we might be able to compete with them."

England currently lie in fifth position on the IRB Sevens World table, chasing Australia in fourth with Samoa frontrunners.

England Sevens Squad for London and Edinburgh
Greg Barden (Royal Navy), Kevin Barrett (Saracens), John Brake (Northampton Saints), Chris Brightwell (Bedford), Ben Gollings (capt, Gold Coast, Australia) , Simon Hunt (Birmingham and Solihull), Oliver Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins), Ollie Phillips (Stade Francais) , Tom Powell (Unattached) , James Rodwell (Moseley), Mat Turner (Bristol Rugby), Tom Varndell (London Wasps)**, Rob Vickerman (Newcastle Falcons), Christian Wade (London Wasps)*, Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons)**

*Christian Wade will be replaced by Nick Royle for Edinburgh
**Denotes England Saxons player

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Watch England Sevens in action on May 22 & 23 at the Emirates Airline London Sevens, their only home tournament of the IRB Sevens World Series. Tickets are available from £10 from www.rfu.com/tickets