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England Sevens star Isoa Damudamu has recovered from serious injury and navigated through a sea of red tape to reach the Commonwealth Games in India.

The Fijian-born forward, widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading Sevens players, made his debut for England at Adelaide in 2007, qualifying by residence after living in England for 10 years while serving in the British Army.

Shoulder injuries restricted him to only two tournament appearances in the IRB Sevens World Series last season with an extensive rehabilitation programme needed to get him fit for Delhi. Then he had to secure British citizenship at short notice to qualify for England’s Commonwealth Games team.

“Last year I dislocated my shoulder in Hong Kong, then spent six or seven months in rehab and got back into the squad in December for Dubai and George. Then in January I dislocated the same shoulder again,” said Damudamu.

“I had an operation at the end of March and I’ve spent the last few months in rehab again. It’s hard because it was the second time I’d done it and it does affect you at times, but I just love playing for England and I wanted to get back involved again.

“I worked hard in the summer, trained with the guys again and it’s great to be back and fit now. I’ve had a few run-outs at Bisham Abbey and I’m feeling fit and strong and very happy to be selected for the Commonwealth Games. It was such a big honour.

“I’ve been in England for 10 years now and the Army has really supported me in the way they and my regiment have released me to play.

“I’ve just got my British citizenship now too. I had to go through the whole process, the test, the ceremony, going down to get my passport. So I’m here, I’m fit and I’m ready to go.”

Damudamu played a key role in one of the side’s biggest recent victories, scoring the try that enabled England to beat New Zealand in their own backyard in 2009.

And he is adamant it could be a special time for England in Delhi too, as head coach Ben Ryan prepares his squad for the tournament that begins with pool matches against Sri Lanka, Uganda and Australia on October 11.

He added: “Over the next few days we’ll just top up what’s left from our training camp, you don’t want to go full out. I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve done a lot and Ben [Ryan] has given us a lot, so it’s time to start repaying him.

“This is the fittest we’ve ever been and the tightest as a squad we’ve ever been. I think we’ve got a real chance to win the tournament.”

Ryan raring to go

Ben Ryan’s squad held a first rugby session at their Delhi University training ground on Monday.

With 12 weeks of training behind them, the players led by 2006 silver medallist Ben Gollings are putting the finishing touches to their preparation and plans a practise game with Canada.

"We’ll have a blow-out at the beginning of the week as part of our heat protocols, finishing off the projects that we were doing at [the National Sports Centre] Bisham Abbey, then we’ll have a runaround against Canada.

"We might pick another team to have a conditioned game with and then it’s just a matter of keeping the players topped up. We’ve done a lot of good work now so we just need to make sure they’ll stay healthy and the training in India will supplement that.

Despite the publicised concerns about the athletes’ facilities in Delhi, Ryan is happy with what he has seen thus far.

"Everyone’s raring to go and in really good spirits, getting on well with each other and taking all the distractions in their stride. They’ve all done remarkably well so far. All the facilities are great and the training facilities are brilliant."