Worcester back row dynamo Jake Abbott has today been named by England Sevens coach Ben Ryan’s squad to take on USA, Russia and Kenya on day one of the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens (December 4-5).
Ryan has retained seven players who reached finals in Dubai, Wellington, San Diego and London last season.
Ben Gollings (Unattached), Kevin Barrett (Saracens) and the Army’s Isoa Damudamu are amongst the experienced seven and will be joined by England Under 20s speedster Christian Wade who will be hoping to earn his first sevens cap this year.
Ryan said: “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.”
After Dubai the players head to George, South Africa, where they face Scotland, Argentina and Tunisia in the pool matches.
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)
Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens fixtures:
December 4, England v USA, kick off 10.04am local time (GMT+4)
December 4, England v Russia, kick off 1.40pm local time (GMT+4)
December 4, England v Kenya, kick off 6.52pm local time (GMT+4)
Emirates Airline South Africa Sevens fixtures:
December 11, England v Tunisia, kick off 12.04am local time (GMT +2)
December 11, England v Argentina, kick off 3.10pm local time (GMT +2)
December 11, Scotland v England, kick off 7.32pm local time (GMT +2)
Watch the IRB Sevens World Series on Sky Sports 3 coverage starts on Saturday December 5 at 7.00am