England Sevens Press Release
Gollings returns for England Sevens Friday November 14, 2008 Issued by Jessica Chambers England Sevens record breaker, Ben Gollings (Gold Coast Breakers), returns in coach Ben Ryan's squad ahead of the Emirates Airline Dubai and South Africa Sevens (28-29 Nov & 5-6 Dec). Gollings, the IRB World Sevens all time highest points scorer, is joined by Leeds Carnegie try machine Tom Biggs, powerful winger Uche Odouza (Suntory, Japan) and scrum half Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs). The 12-man squad will travel to Dubai, the venue of next year's Rugby World Cup Sevens (March 5-7 2009), where they will take on Portugal, USA and Fiji on day one of the IRB Sevens Series. Also included in the side are two members of the Royal Navy: Royal Marine Greg Barden, currently playing for Bristol Rugby on a one year contract and Fijian wing Josh Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy). Returning from a shoulder injury which he picked up last season is Isoa Damudamu (Army). Geraint Ashton Jones, Royal Navy Director of Rugby said, "Everyone in the Royal Marines and Royal Navy is very proud of these players. They've worked really hard, having to juggle their other commitments with training. They have put in lots of effort individually and as part of the team. Ryan said, "This is a very exciting time for English rugby across the board and the energy from the senior side is rubbing off on the other representative sides. The desire from each squad to reach the highest standard is clear. We want to reach the top, and that means winning the World Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens. "I'm looking forward to seeing what these players can do. We have put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes and we have every intention to make these next two seasons hugely successful and put in some world class performances." England's 12-man Emirates Airline Dubai and South Africa Sevens: Greg Barden (Bristol Rugby/Royal Navy)* Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs) Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie) Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs) Isoa Damudamu (Army) Josua Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy)* Ben Gollings (Gold Coast, Australia) Uche Odouza (Suntory, Japan) Ollie Phillips (Newcastle Falcons) James Rodwell (Moseley RFC) Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie) Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons) *Denotes uncapped for England Sevens Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, November 28 & 29, 2008 England fixtures: Pool D Friday November 28, 2008 England v Portugal, ko 12.04pm local time (GMT +4) England v USA, ko 5.00pm local time (GMT +4) Fiji v England, ko 7.56pm local time (GMT +4) Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens, December 5 & 6, 2008 England fixtures: Pool A Friday December 5, 2008 England v Africa 3 (kick off 13.27 local time, GMT + 2) England v France (kick off 16.33 local time, GMT + 2) New Zealand v England (kick off 20.16 local time, GMT + 2) To follow England Sevens go to www.rfu.com/sevens Ends