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Saturday marks the start of the inaugural National Sevens Series at London’s RugbyRocks(June 12).

The Series, the first of it's kind in the UK, and will build on the increasing popularity of rugby sevens, which will be included in the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Following RugbyRocks, the new Series will travel to the West Country (19 June), Manchester (11 July), and Newquay (17 July). It features 9 ‘core’ teams with three other sides invited for each event.

Some of the UK’s most exciting up and coming talent will compete alongside seasoned internationals from the IRB Sevens World Series.

Following the squads’ registration last week, each side had announced their provisional 12-man squads that will participate at Richmond Athletic Ground, part of RugbyRocks.

The Series is being backed by Ultimate Rugby Sevens, with CEO Tim Lacey promising an exciting opening encounter.

“So the National Sevens Series is finally upon us. Looking at the squad sheets, we are in for a hugely entertaining and competitive day’s action at RugbyRocks,” said Lacey

“The site down at Richmond looks fantastic. It really is a perfect venue to host a festival of sevens and music. The teams, tournaments and staff at Ultimate Rugby Sevens have all worked incredibly hard to create this Series and give invitational sevens in the UK the spectacle and exposure it so deserves.

“I hope everyone enjoys the start of the Series and then watches the highlights shows on Sky Sports next week!”

RugbyRocks will also host a Men’s Open and Scrumqueens.com Women’s Open competitions, with the respective finals taking place on the main pitch.

Off-the-field the event will welcom renowned music acts with the line-up including Feeder and Just Jack.

RugbyRocks Groups - National Sevens Series

Group A: Gilbert Pups, Akuma Smurfs, French Pyrenees*
Group B: HFW Wailers, Olorun ID, Esher*
Group C: WH Marauders, British Army, Raging Bull Ronin
Group D: Samurai International, Apache, Irish Raiders*

* denotes invited

For match schedule click here

National Sevens Series - RugbyRocks Provisional Squads

Olorun ID: Danny Pointon, George Evans, Sam Shires, Andy Daish, Mike Penn, Ollie Frost, Ryan Brend, Tim Stephenson, David Vincent, Marc De Marigny, Ricky Thomas, Andrew Jones

Samurai International: Carl Murray, Gavin Dacey, Geoff Griffiths, Graham Spiers, Greig Ryan, Mark Bright, Mike Davis, Oriol Ripol, Rhys Jones, Simon Hunt, Tim Wiley, Zane Winslade

Apache: Luke Burns, Tom Burns, Will Woodward, Gareth Williams, James Hawken, Dan Connolly, Steve Drake
Adam Hurst, Sandy Reid, James Greenwood, Richard Briggs, Will Jones

Gilbert Pups: Roddy Turner, James Kellard, Sam Dickinson, Dwain Browne, Neil Chivers, Jack Gash, Tom Parker
Matt Vaughn, Ross Curle, Richard Mill, Wyn Roberts, Phil Chesters

Akuma Smurfs: Nathan Williams, Nathan Trowbridge, Adam Whitney,Tom Lampard, Steve Taylor, Dave Fox, Roger Davies, James Dixon, Matt Mclean, Alex Walker, Alan Awcock, Ed Lewis-Pratt

HFW Wailers: David Akinluyi, Scott Riddel, Aaron Myers, Joel Hodgson, Steven Jones, Luke Fielden, Tyson Lewis, Mark Laycock, Sioni Onesi, Hamish Smales, Jack Harrison, Steve Parsons

British Army: Captain Lee, Pte Satala, Lcpl Wessels, Lcpl Kava, Lcpl Margnus, Spr Qasevakatini, Gnr Bolam, Pte Burinivalu, Fus Sikeli Ratubuli, Spr Nacumavutu, Spr Lagekoro, Spr Basoko, Pte Prasad

White Hart Marauders: James Reilly, Adam Bishop, Jake Henry, Kev James, Howard Graham, Kameli Vaudreu, Paul Jarvis, Drew Locke, Charlie Walker, Rhys Crane, Lee Mclaughlin

Ronin Impact:Alex Nash, Matt Goode, Liam Munro, Sevanca Lewavukula, Steve Clarke, Sam Patel, Neil Burnett, Mike Rust, Tevita Toloi, Tom Harris, Aaron Takarangi, Ashley Kalnins

Irish Raiders: David Mongan, Matt Healy, Hugh Hogan, Micheal Essex, Mark Sexton, Massey Tuhakaraina, Ronan Doherty, Sam Cronin, Ray Crotty, Frank Cogan, Billy Nagwini, Fergal Campion

Esher: Simon Gaynor, James Stephenson, Mark Odejobi, Jamie Gibbs, Jonny Hylton, Neville Edwards, Ross Fowles Dan Cervino, Callum Wilson, James Doherty, Robert Kirby

Kirk Petro Pyrenees: Thomas Sanchou, Ibrahim Diarra, Lionel Dutilh, Mathieu Mercier, Jean Baptiste Chaveau, Kevin Maraval, Olivier Labeque, Ghislain Montiel, Nicolas Bayer, Ismael Slayki, Didier Lahorre, Ben Bouchet 

National Sevens Series on Sky Sports

RugbyRocks London 7s (Richmond Athletic Ground), 12th June 2010

15/06/10, Sky Sports 3, 19:30
15/06/10, Sky Sports 3, 23:00
16/06/10, Sky Sports 2, 9:00
16/06/10, Sky Sports 4, 14:00

Related Articles:

The Creation of the National Series
Bolter's Predictions

Samurai Preview
WH Marauders Preview
HFW Wailers Preview
Olorun ID Preview
British Army Preview
Apache Preview
Akuma Smurfs Preview
Raging Bull Ronin Preview
Gilbert Pups Preview