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more »Exciting new era for England Sevens
England Sevens coach Ben Ryan wants to keep raising the standards of his side in what is set to be another competitive and exciting IRB Sevens campaign. England finished third overall last season and are still searching for their maiden IRB World Sevens Series crown.
With the decision on whether to include rugby sevens in the 2016 Olympic Games due next Friday (9 Oct) Ryan is determined to continue the momentum his squad built last season by retaining ten of the players who reached finals in Dubai, Wellington, San Diego and London.
Ben Gollings, Kevin Barrett, Isoa Damudamu and 2008/9 World Player of the year Ollie Phillips are amongst the experienced ten. Ryan will be hoping the likes of Dan Norton, Dan Caprice, Uche Oduoza can improve on the progress they made last year.
The Middlesex Sevens also proved a good stage for players to impress Ryan with the likes of Jamie Hearn, Ollie Lindsay-Hague, and David Akinluyi all impressing at Twickenham. England Under 20’s winger Christian Wade is another player who has been on Ryan’s radar for a while, with the Wasps man impressing at Manchester, Bournemouth, and the Rosslyn Park Floodlit Sevens last season.
"The IRB Sevens World Series gets more competitive and exciting every year. The Olympic decision is days away and this additional possibility has already added to the promise of a new era in world rugby and sevens,” said Ryan
"If you stand still at the moment, you tend to get left behind by the other nations so we have worked very hard at continuing the momentum gained from reaching four finals out of the eight last year. Many of the squad have been retained - ten that have appeared in finals last year - and additional players include some from the unbeaten U18 side and JWC U20 finalists.
"The fitness standards have also risen, with minimum standards now being enforced across the board and some fantastic partnerships being developed with the RFU and other world class facilities and bodies in the UK. We all know what a hugely competitive but rewarding season this could be and can't wait for it all to start in earnest."
England Sevens training squad 2009/10
Jake Abbott (Worcester), David Akinluyi (Unattached) , Greg Barden (Royal Navy), Kevin Barrett (Saracens)
Chris Brightwell (Birmingham & Solihull) , Dan Caprice (Blackheath) , Isoa Damudamu (Army) , Ben Gollings (Unattached) , Jamie Hearn (Saracens) , Oliver Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins) , Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby)
Uche Oduoza (Newcastle Falcons), Ollie Phillips (Stade Francais) , Simon Pitfield (Unattached), Tom Powell (Cambridge RFU) , James Rodwell (Moseley RFC) , Nick Royle (Fylde Rugby), Charlie Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby) , Christian Wade (Wasps) , Matt Turner (Bristol Rugby), Matt Williams (Unattached)
More players will be added post October training camp.
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