England Sevens coach Ben Ryan has called up Worcester ace Jake Abbott for the next two rounds of the IRB Sevens World Series – but Sixways signing Chris Cracknell is left out as he looks to make his mark at Warriors.
Abbott will travel to Wellington and Las Vegas (Feb 5-6 and 13-14) and joins a settled squad which includes former Worcester star and all-time highest sevens points scorer Ben Gollings (Gold Coast).
England will face USA, Tonga and Kenya on day one in New Zealand. England are third in the IRB standings behind New Zealand and Fiji respectively after reaching the semi finals in Dubai and overcoming hosts South Africa to win the plate final in George last month.
Ryan said: “Chris Cracknell was with us all last season and signed for Worcester on the back of the first two tournaments in Dubai and South Africa. He will be missed but this is his opportunity to put down a marker and claim a first team position at Warriors.
“I’m really happy that we’ve kept the same squad that we had in the first two tournaments and we are giving ourselves the best chance to defend our cup title in Wellington and show what we can do at the new USA venue in Las Vegas.”
After Wellington the players head to Las Vegas where they face Wales, Japan and Argentina in the pool matches.
England Sevens squad for New Zealand and Las Vegas
Jake Abbott (Worcester Warriors)
Donald Barrell (Saracens)
Kevin Barrett (Saracens)
Chris Brightwell (Bedford)
Dan Caprice (Blackheath)
Isoa Damudamu (British Army)
Ben Gollings (Gold Coast, Australia)
Dan Norton (Bristol Rugby)
James Rodwell (Moseley)
Nick Royle (Fylde)
Matt Turner (Bristol Rugby)
Christian Wade (London Wasps)
New Zealand Sevens fixtures:
February 5, England v USA, kick off 1.44pm local time (GMT+12)
February 5, England v Tonga, kick off 4.40pm local time (GMT+12)
February 5, England v Kenya, kick off 9.12pm local time (GMT+12)
USA Sevens fixtures:
February 13, England v Wales, kick off 1.13pm local time (GMT-8)
February 13, England v Japan, kick off 4.18pm local time (GMT-8)
February 13, England v Argentina, kick off 7.58pm local time (GMT-8)
Watch England Sevens in action on May 22 & 23 at the Emirates Airline London Sevens, their only home tournament on the IRB Series. Tickets are available from www.rfu.com/tickets