England 7s Fixtures Dubai 2008

Good day to you all

I thought I would let you know that tickets are already very hard to come by and seemed to sell out very quickly indeed. Unless you have one or have made alternative arrangements then you may be disappointed.

The wife and kids were also off early on Friday for the breast cancer walk and having just returned from a trip took the opportunity to take my car for a spin early in the morning to find the new club site – crikey it is a long way from anywhere, so if you’re coming over for the Dubai 7’s please make sure your transport there and back is arranged.

See you in Dubai

Steve DXB – one of several London Irish shirts in the crowd!

Hi Steve: Thank you for this information and updated. I am amazed with this new stadium that the tickets are nearly gone already!!

Steve hope you don't mind me asking but if you get the chance and are able to, would you be kind enough to send a couple of photos through of the new stadium and the event if you are going?

england.kath@gmail.com

Thanking you for all of this Kath

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

England 31 v 7 Portugal
England 24 v 10 USA,
England 28 v 5 Fiji

Well done England 7s!

next up.......
29-11-2008 11:30 England -Argentina 1/4 final Cup

England's Uche Odouza hugs the touchline during his side's Day one victory over Portugal at the Dubai Sevens 2008.Getty Images

England Sevens save best till last

Fiji 5 - 28 England

England finish top of their group this evening after a confident display against Fiji at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens.

A disallowed try didn't dampen England's spirits as they scored four tries with Micky Young, Uche Oduoza and Isoa Damudamu flying over the line and captain Ollie Phillips adding four conversions.

England had a slow start waiting until the fourth minute to score their first try which came from an England scrum, Kevin Barrett threw out to Damu who tore through the Fiji defence for his third try of the day.

Powerful forward Chris Cracknell added to England's tally minutes later but it was disallowed because of a forward pass. The scores at the break were 0-14.

After half time England were well into their stride striking in the second minute with a try from Phillips from an England line out. Fiji answered back moments later with their only try, but failed to convert.

Substitute Tom Biggs had a great run that led to Damu receiving the ball in the last play of the match. It was a chip and chase that saw Damu fly over the line for his fourth try of the day.

Coach Ben Ryan said, "It was a fine balance and we just managed to get it today. We got the ball early and we knew even against teams like Fiji if you can just hold onto the ball you break down their shape, you need the right guys to make the right decisions and we took our chances.

"As a management group we've stood back a little and let them manage themselves, we told them, you've got to go out there and enjoy yourselves and start playing through their lines, start looking for offloads. When you're confident and hitting the right lines sometimes those offloads come off. Today has been a real team effort."

England face Argentina in the cup quarter final at 11.30am (GMT, 7.30am) on Saturday November 29.

England: Isoa Damudamu (Army), Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie), Uche Oduoza (Suntory, Japan), Ollie Phillips (Captain, Newcastle Falcons), Josua Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs).

Replacements: Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie), Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons), Greg Barden (Bristol Rugby/Royal Navy).

England scorers:
Tries: Damu (2), Oduoza, Young
Conversions: Phillips (4)

England Sevens win pass to New Zealand show down

England 15 - 5 Argentina

England will face New Zealand in the cup semi final after overcoming Argentina at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens.

The showdown kicks off at 2.20pm GMT, which is 10 minutes before their senior counterparts take to the Twickenham turf for the Investec Challenge match.

Three tries from England was enough to send them through this morning, Josh Drauniniu, Tom Biggs and Isoa Damudamu added to England's scoreboard but as the rain came down over Dubai Ollie Phillips' kicking suffered with no conversions scored.

Rob Vickerman, once again, proved to be vital in the centre, cutting through Argentina's defence to set-up Drauniniu for the first try of the match.

Argentina fought back, but England defended well and a great run by scrum half Micky Young saw Argentina on the back foot once again. Young was forced to throw out to Ollie Phillips who found support from Damu who flew over the line for his fifth try of the tournament. The score at the break was 10-0.

England came back after the break to score their third try, Vickerman winning the ball from Argentina's line out, which found Phillips who kicked the ball up field for Tom Biggs to chase. Biggs outrunning Argentina's defence for his first try of the tournament.

Argentina didn't give up and scored their only try of the match in the last seconds, a diving tackle from Biggs couldn't stop them as they went over, but failed to convert. The final score was 15-5

England face New Zealand in the cup semi final at 6.20pm (GMT, 2.20pm).

England: Isoa Damudamu (Army), Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie), Ollie Phillips (Captain, Newcastle Falcons), Josua Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs/Royal Navy), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie), Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs).

Replacements: Micky Young (Newcastle Falcons), Greg Barden (Bristol Rugby/Royal Navy), James Rodwell (Moseley RFC).

England scorers:
Tries: Drauniniu, Damu, Biggs
Conversions: none

Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, November 28 & 29

England results:
Pool D

Friday November 28

England 31-7 Portugal
England 24-10 USA
Fiji 5 v 28 England

Saturday November 29

England 15 -5 Argentina

Congratulations to the English team.

Even better result, beating New Zealand 21-19

That is the reason I was congratulating England.

Final 12 all with 4 mins to go. One Bok sin binned.