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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013:12:01:15:21:14 by Kath..

McGrath moves from his role of North Wales Development Region Rugby Manager for the WRU to return to Twickenham.

An England Sevens Assistant Coach and RFU National Academy Coach from 2002-06, he previously worked with England Saxons and the age group international sides as well as the sevens team that won four Hong Kong titles in that period.

“I’m looking forward to working with Damian,” said Amor. “He’s an experienced international coach with a wide range of skills who will add value to the programme as we continue the development of the England Sevens side.”

Amor took charge of the team for the first time last month and led them to a third-place finish in the opening leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Australia.

The team return to action this month in Dubai (November 29-30) before travelling to Port Elizabeth (December 2-8).

England Sevens Head Coach Simon Amor has made four changes to his squad


ALEX GRAY is set to make his first appearance in the HSBC Sevens World Series after being named in the England squad for the Dubai tournament (November 29-30).

There are four changes to Head Coach Simon Amor's 12-man group with powerful runner Jeff Williams, playmaker Sam Edgerley and strike runner Marcus Watson also called up.

England face Canada, the USA and Fiji in Pool C on the opening day at a venue where they captured back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.

England finished third at the last month's opening leg of the nine-stage series at the Gold Coast Sevens in Australia, a fortnight into Amor's tenure.

"We're still learning all the time, we've made progress over the last month and that's reflected in the selection for places for Dubai," said Amor.

"Competition has been fierce, which is exactly what you want as a coach to keep driving up standards, and this is an excellent opportunity for Alex Gray, Marcus Watson, Jeff Williams and Sam Edgerley to step up.

"We have more players from the full-time squad playing in The Royals in the international invitation event in Dubai and they have a chance to put their hands up for the third leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Port Elizabeth the following weekend."

Gray, 22, captained an England U20 side containing the likes of Owen Farrell, Christian Wade, Mako Vunipola and Joe Launchbury to the final of the 2011 Junior World Championship moved from London Irish after signing a full-time England Sevens contract last summer.

He is joined by Watson, who scored 27 tries in the World Series last season, Williams, who launched this year's Marriott London Sevens with a hat-trick of tries against Fiji, and Edgerley, the half back whose extra-time try clinched the 2013 New Zealand Sevens title in Wellington.

Chris Cracknell, one of the four players making way, captains The Royals development side which also includes contracted England players John Brake, Luke Fielden, Christian Lewis-Pratt, James Lightfoot-Brown and Ollie Marchon.

Rob Vickerman (back), Callum Wilson (toe) and Mark Odejobi (foot) miss out through injury.

England Sevens: Dan Bibby, Phil Burgess, Sam Edgerley, Mike Ellery, Alex Gray, Tom Mitchell, Dan Norton, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Mathew Turner, Marcus Watson, Jeff Williams.

ENGLAND impressed in cruising to a 47-7 win over Canada in their opening game at the Dubai Sevens today.

Mike Ellery emulated sister Megan – a scorer for England Women yesterday – and the rest of the tries were touched down by Phil Burgess, Dan Bibby, Tom Mitchell, James Rodwell, Dan Norton and Jeff Williams. Bibby’s kicking was close to perfect and he added six conversions.

England face the USA (11:24 GMT) and Fiji (16:02) in today’s remaining Pool C games.

England boss Simon Amor made changes for Dubai following the third-place finish in leg one of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

Alex Gray was handed his first appearance at this level with Marcus Watson, Sam Edgerley and Williams all returning.

Amor has versatility at his disposal too, leaving last season’s top try scorer Dan Norton on the bench with former Moseley No.8 Ellery lining up in the backs.

Ellery struck straight from the kick-off with former Cornish Pirates flanker Burgess adding a second before Ciaran Hearn stepped past him to pull one back.

Bibby and Mitchell finished a clinical first half with tries and Amor then emptied a strong bench.

Norton and Williams duly both touched down in the second half after Rodwell was put over in the corner by Mitchell.

Marcus Watson on the attack against Canada


ENGLAND impressed in cruising to opening day wins against Canada and the USA at the Dubai Sevens.

They started with a slick seven-try 47-7 success over Canada and then saw off the USA 28-5 to make sure of a place in the quarter finals ahead of their final Pool C match against Fiji.

England – winners here in 2010 and 2011 – looked confident and organised under new boss Simon Amor with all 12 squad members given starts in the first two matches.

Against Canada, Mike Ellery emulated sister Megan – a scorer for England Women yesterday – and the rest of the tries were touched down by Phil Burgess, Dan Bibby, Tom Mitchell, James Rodwell, Dan Norton and Jeff Williams. Bibby’s kicking was close to perfect and he added six conversions.

Alex Gray then scored his first try at this level against the USA with Rodwell, Marcus Watson and Mitchell also striking.

Head Coach Amor had made changes for Dubai following the third-place finish in leg one of the HSBC Sevens World Series. Former England Under 20 captain Gray was handed his debut with Watson, Williams and Sam Edgerley returning.

Amor has versatility at his disposal too, leaving last season’s top try scorer Norton on the bench against Canada with former Moseley No.8 Ellery lining up in the backs.

Ellery struck straight from the kick-off with former Cornish Pirates flanker Burgess adding a second before Ciaran Hearn stepped past him to pull one back.

Bibby and Mitchell finished a clinical first half with tries and Amor then emptied a strong bench.

Norton and Williams duly both touched down after Rodwell was put over in the corner by Mitchell.

They then defended well early on against the USA and were equally patient going forward before Gray and Rodwell struck.

Watson’s footwork was too much for the opposing defence as he scored at the end of the first half before setting up Mitchell for the clincher.

A few errors crept in with the game won and Carlin Isles touched down a late consolation for the USA.

Marcus Watson in action at the Dubai Sevens

MARCUS WATSON scored a hat-trick of tries as England beat Wales 33-12 to reach the semi finals of the Dubai Sevens.

England now face South Africa (13:51 GMT) while New Zealand take on Fiji in the other side of the draw.

They took a while to get going against Wales, trailing to an early Ashley Evans try, before former Saracens and London Irish wing Watson struck with Dan Bibby converting.

Watson and Wales’s James Davies traded scores early in the second half but England found top gear with Phil Burgess, Watson and Mat Turner striking in the space of three minutes.

On day one they beat Canada 47-7 and the USA 28-5 before going down 26-21 against the Fiji side coached by former England boss Ben Ryan.

The Dubai Sevens is live on Sky Sports 3HD until midday and then on Sky Sports 2HD behind the red button.

Mike Ellery's form was a major plus for England


ENGLAND finished fourth at the Dubai Sevens after Tim Mikkelson’s late try clinched a 17-14 play-off win for New Zealand.

Head coach Simon Amor’s team beat Wales 33-12 but they went down 26-12 at the semi final stage to South Africa before going down against the HSBC Sevens World Series champions.

England finished third in the opening event of the Series last month and they are now fourth in the overall standings and Amor was in optimistic mood ahead of the South Africa Sevens in Port Elizabeth on December 7-8.

“There were some real positives – a lot of our tackling was the best I’ve seen – but some of our decision making was not great and that can punish you at the highest level of sevens,” said Amor.

“Now the foundations are in place in our defence, though, we’ve got a lot of other good stuff to work on.

“South Africa was a very frustrating game. We did a lot of good stuff but we didn’t play the breakdown particularly well and South Africa are very good there. It’s the next part of our game to look at.”

England trailed 12-0 in the first half of the play-off before Sam Edgerley and Phil Burgess struck either side of half time only for Mikkelson to get away 20 seconds from time.

Earlier Marcus Watson had scored a hat-trick of tries in the big win over Wales at the quarter final stage.

James Davies and Ashley Evans replied but England pulled away in the second half with Burgess and Mat Turner also touching down.

Tries from Mike Ellery and Mitchell kept England in touch against South Africa in the semi but late strikes from Werner Kok and Chris Dry ended their title hopes.

Fiji, 26-21 winners over England in the pool stages, went on to lift the title by beating South Africa 29-17 in the final.

Former England Under 20 wing Watson’s work with Ellery in the backline was underlined by Amor after they scored four tries apiece over the weekend.

“Marcus Watson was in outstanding form today and his partnership with Mike Ellery worked very well with his [Ellery’s] physicality," said Amor.

"What you want as a coach is a lot of people putting their hands up and performing well and that’s what we’ve got."

HSBC Sevens World Series standings (top six): 1 New Zealand 39pts, 2 Fiji 35, 3 South Africa 34, 4 England 32, 5 Australia 27, 6 Kenya, Wales 22.