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On July 4 Ugo Monye touched down in the third British and Irish Lions test to help secure the only victory against South Africa in the third and final test.

Monye continued his form from the Lions trip to score a try on the opening day of the Guinness Premiership season against London Wasps, although it was Monye’s opposite wing Tom Varndell, who recently said Sevens saved his career, taking the headlines with two tries.

Before playing against Leicester, however, the Harlequins wing helped James Haskell at the RCUK Charity Sevens event where he coached the main sponsors Trafigura.

He helped them reach the Trafigura Bowl final but they lost to Middlesex Sevens winning captain Paul Hodgson’s PriceWaterhouse Coopers.

Despite now being a full England international however, Monye is a great advocate of Sevens, and believes the pending Olympic Games decision in October should be a positive one.

“Sevens does certainly belong in the Olympics, it is a great sport and it is very fast,” added Monye.

“It is great to see that a mighty nation, whether it be England, can compete with some of what you would call the smaller countries like Portugal.

“Everyone has the chance to win a gold medal at the Olympics which I think is great and the fans absolutely love it. They create a carnival atmosphere which is what the Olympics are all about and yeah, it fits hand in hand.”

Monye has been a part of the England Sevens side in the past on the IRB Sevens World Series and he began his career in Sevens when he burst onto the scene in 2003, playing as part of the England Sevens side for three years until 2005 - including a victory at the Hong Kong Sevens.

The wing, playing alongside the likes of Henry Paul, Ben Gollings and Simon Amor, scored England’s first try as they came from behind to beat New Zealand 22-17 in the final which was his seventh overall in his first ever Hong Kong Sevens.

In fact Monye went on to score an incredible 235 points for England on the IRB circuit and he has fond memories of being part of the England Sevens set up.

“Sevens is a sport which started off my career really. I spent a few years on the Sevens circuit and I absolutely loved it. It was some of the greatest times of my life,” said Monye.

With 235 Series points, he is ahead of other players who went on to represent the full England side including Josh Lewsey, Danny Care, Mark Cueto and coincidentally, Tom Varndell.

Like Varndell, Monye’s blistering pace was what attracted him to Joe Lydon and at the age of 16 he recorded a time of 10.65s in the 100m which could have made him an Olympic prospect.

But Monye and other Sevens players will potentially now have the prospect of being an Olympian through Rugby Sevens something Monye believes should happen.

2016 is off the cards, but if Sevens becomes a demonstration sport for the 2012 Olympic Games, Monye could be tempted.

“2012, I will 32 by then. Not sure my legs will carry on, but everyone would love to be involved in the Olympics so if I have the chance then yeah, absolutely,” added Monye.