Ben Gollings Has His Eye On The Trophy

This coming Bank Holiday weekend, Twickenham will be hosting the London leg of the Rugby Sevens World Series and former England skipper Ben Gollings has already got his eyes on the trophy.

The 28-year-old is back in his home country to head an exciting young side on home turf and put England back in the reckoning for honours as the World Series reaches a pivotal stage.

England sit back in eighth place going into the penultimate leg at Twickenham before travelling to Murrayfield, Edinburgh for the final round the following week.

After a stuttering campaign, the leading scorer in IRB Sevens history is aiming to get his hands on some silverware this weekend.

“We had a disappointing tournament last time out in Australia and we have to put certain things right," he tells 50connect.

“We’re at home in front of our own fans and we have to give the English supporters something to cheer because we’ve been quite inconsistent this year."

"There have been too many ups and downs. We’ve let ourselves down but we’ve an exciting group of players and it’s time we stood up to the mark.  The guys have a good idea on how to play the game and we can be considered strong challengers. You always want to win when you’re playing at home and although it brings extra pressures, I think we’ve the capabilities to do well.”

England have been drawn in a group including second-place South Africa, and minnows Spain and France.

The French, so impressive in the 15’s game, are unlikely to cause England too many headaches whilst a slip up against Spain would be an embarrassment.  But it’s the clash with South Africa that could determine England’s destiny in the tournament.

The match is the last on the first day’s play and Gollings is hoping the Red Roses will be fighting for honours come Sunday morning.

“We’re definitely looking to come away from Saturday with three wins," he says.  "We believe we’ve the quality to do that."

“South Africa will be a very tough match, probably quite a tense game but exciting for the people watching.  But once you’re in the quarter-finals there’s everything to play for and anybody can win.  South Africa and Samoa will be very strong as always. You can never write off Fiji and New Zealand have been very impressive this season so it’s really between the same group of old rivals and we’re definitely a good bet.”

Gollings is a living legend in the game of Sevens. The former Harlequins, Newcastle and Worcester fly-half emigrated to Australia’s Gold Coast in the autumn of 2004 with his Australian wife and has been plying his trade with club side Sunnybank this year after spells in New Zealand and Japan.

Recognised as one of the best players to ever play the Sevens game, Gollings is delighted to be back on the circuit after taking a year out last season.

The third top try scorer in IRB Sevens history says he needed to refresh his batteries.

"I’ve been involved with the Sevens team since 1999 and it takes its toll.  It’s a very tiring game and it takes a lot out of you, but it’s such a fun game to play.  It’s not often you get the honour and privilege to play for your country either so I’m very happy to be back in the team.”

England have lost their last six Sevens fixtures - their worst run in Sevens history, but Gollings is hoping home advantage brings the benefits on Saturday morning.

“Everybody loves playing the Hong Kong leg, it is and always be the best place to play Sevens but it’s quite impressive when you come home to play at Twickenham.  Since it’s been redeveloped I’ve not played there and there aren’t many better places to play your rugby."

“The crowd will get behind us and hopefully it will give us the lift we need.”

The England squad to play in the Emirates Airline London Sevens is: Ben Gollings (Sunnybank), Jack Adams (Gloucester), Kevin Barrett (Exeter), Tom Biggs (Leeds), Chris Cracknell (Cornish Pirates), Lee Dickson (Newcastle), Ben Foden (Sale), Uche Oduoza (Worcester), Ollie Phillips (Newcaslte), Andy Vilk (Sale), Rob Webber (Wasps) and Tom Youngs (Leicester).

England’s Pool matches (Saturday, May 24th):

England Vs Spain (11.34am)
England Vs France (2.40pm)
England Vs South Africa (5.58pm)

Tickets for the event from the 24th-25th May are still available from £10 at www.londonsevens.co.uk

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