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England have retained seven key players for the first two legs of the IRB Sevens World Series in Dubai and George. Ben Ryan has included Ben Gollings, Kevin Barrett and the Army's Isoa Damudamu amongst the experienced seven and will be joined by the highly rated England Under 20s Christian Wade.

England tackle USA, Russia and Kenya on day one of the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens (Dec 4-5) and head to South Africa the following week for the George Sevens. There they face Scotland, Argentina and Tunisia in the opening day’s pool matches.

The side has been cut down from an original 21 man training squad that was selected at the beginning of October. One notable admission is World Sevens Player of the Year, Ollie Phillips, whose commitments with new club Stade Francais make him unavailable till the new year.

The squad is one of Ryan’s fastest with the likes of Norton, Caprice, Royle, and Turner all possessing notable speed that Ryan feels can unlock the best of defenses.

Matt Turner is no stranger to the IRB Series having played in the same legs in England’s 2008/09 campaign, and also turned out for the Southern Kings against the British and Irish Lions back in July.

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.

"Everyone in the squad has worked very hard to get here. More hard work is around the corner for all of the players, but we go to Dubai and George with a good mix of players who can't wait to wear the white shirt with pride," said coach Ben Ryan.

England Sevens squad for Dubai and South Africa
Jake Abbott (Worcester Warriors), Kevin Barrett (Saracens), Chris Brightwell (Birmingham & Solihull), Dan Caprice (Blackheath RFC), Chris Cracknell (Unattached), Isoa Damudamu (British Army), Ben Gollings (Gold Coast, Australia), Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby),James Rodwell (Moseley RFC), Nick Royle (Fylde RFC), Matt Turner (Bristol Rugby), Christian Wade (London Wasps)