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Gollings back in England Sevens squad

Friday 14th November 2008

Record: Gollings is back to extend his world record

England Sevens coach Ben Ryan has recalled Ben Gollings to his squad for the opening two legs of the IRB World Sevens.

Gollings, who holds the record for the highest points scored in Sevens history, is back in a powerful looking squad for the Dubai and South Africa legs of the tournament.

He is joined by Leeds 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, 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 on a one year contract and Fijian wing Josh Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy).

"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," Ryan said.

"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 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).

Dubai Sevens:

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)

South Africa Sevens:

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)