By Pawlo
April 6 2007

Rugby 7’s globe trotter Boris and the rest of the England squad knuckle down to some serious training “down under” in preparation for the Easter weekend Adelaide leg of the IRB World Sevens Series. He shares with us his latest thoughts of life on the road in the England camp.
It is the night before the tournament and I am feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement. Last week’s result in Hong Kong was so disappointing and we have all spent a lot of time this week trying to make sure we perform better this weekend in Adelaide.

I guess that’s the good thing about sevens – that you do get another chance to put things right as a team at the next tournament and we have only had to wait a week. And as a player it means you only have to wait a week to be able to go out there and improve your performance in an England shirt.

We visited the venue yesterday and we are playing at the Adelaide Oval cricket ground. The Adelaide Oval is one of Australia's most picturesque test cricket grounds, situated in parklands with the backdrop of St. Peter's Cathedral. The ground has a capacity of about 34,000 and has a lot of charm to go with its significant history, which dates back all the way to 1871. It also hosted two games during the 2003 Rugby World Cup. It is a lovely stadium but also quite open which means there isn’t much shade; and we have to start our first pool match at 12.15pm – right under the hottest midday sun. Plus, as it’s a cricket ground, it is a hard ground so that means the games will be even quicker than normal.

Adelaide Oval

We have a very tough pool over here as we have Tonga, Canada and Fiji. The two islander teams will definitely be a “tough” challenge and Canada can also be very physical. We will really have to be on our toes from our first game to get through our pool.

We have all learned a lot from last weekend’s performance and there is a different kind of pressure on us this week. Last week in Hong Kong we were the crowd favourites and everyone was asking if we could win a fifth successive tournament. This week in Adelaide, the pressure to perform is coming from within the team. Also we are all more experienced than last week as us youngsters in particular have all benefited so much from the experience of playing in Hong Kong.

We flew into Adelaide on Tuesday but haven’t ventured beyond the hotel or the training ground really, but one thing you pick up straight away is that everyone here is sports mad!! Last weekend, Adelaide was full with of thousands of fire fighters, police and corrections officers – all following the enormously successful 2007 World Police & Fire Games. And this weekend it’s the IRB Rugby Sevens.

Our training base this week has been at St. Peters school which is set in stunning grounds just five minutes drive from central Adelaide. The school boasts nine sports fields (or ‘ovals’ as they are called here), an impressive gym and a fabulous swimming pool – all perfect facilities for us to use in preparation for this weekend’s tournament. We have spent a lot of time training and then, when we are back in the hotel, we watch match videos to check up on the opposition. Yesterday we had a practice match against Samoa (who won in Hong Kong), so that was a good work-out too.

The beach is only about 20 minutes away but none of us have had a chance to go there. That might sound strange but we are here to work and my job is to play well this weekend and help England to win. I can come back to Adelaide on holiday another time to explore the town and surrounding area.

Myself and my new roomie this week, Michael Hills (Sale Sharks), have been the duty boys today which means we have to help the manager with the kit, making sure we have enough water, tidying up the corridor etc. A different room pairing does it each day and there is a prize for the winners at the end of the week. We have been really good today so are confident that we have won the prize.

Tonight we have a team meeting and the shirt presentation ceremony where we are all handed our tournament England jerseys and the new players are awarded their caps. It is a very special and proud moment that we all look forward to. After all you never know when or if you will ever get a chance to play for England again.

After that I will hopefully speak to my family on the phone and then get an early night. I make sure I have drunk lots of water and might also have a protein shake before I go to bed if I am hungry.

Then tomorrow we are up for breakfast about 8 o’clock before leaving for the Oval about 10.30am. Three big matches tomorrow and we need to win all three. I am looking forward to it!!!