RugbyRocks London Sevens, Ex-Quin tops rugby bill

All time leading points London Sevens scorer Ben Gollings tops the rugby bill this weekend when RugbyRocks London Sevens kicks off at Richmond Rugby Club on Saturday.
The 30 year old England international and former Harlequins scrum half has more than 2,000 points on the international circuit to his name and is set to turn out for invitational side Samurai in the elite competition at the weekend.
He is anticipated to be joined in the line up by former Sale Sharks winger Oriol Ripol as they look to win the London leg of the National London Sevens Series.
To attract starts the competition is expected from the London Sevens stage as well as Guinness Premiership top flight professionals, including Newcastle Falcons full back Luke Fielden.
Twickenham based organisers Ed Kemp and Rob Westworth gave up their jobs to get the project which also features a RugbyRocks open tournaments for men and women off the ground.
And Westworth admits it is a relief to finally see the day arrive.
“There has been a few hair raising moments, but things have calmed down in the build up and we are just looking forward to it,” he said.
“The teams are slowly being announced, the weather is improving, so it should be a great day.”
90s Brit rockers Feeder are headlining the music festival with support from South African band The Parlotones - fresh from playing at the World Cup opening ceremony.
While England’s first group C clash with USA will be screened live on a big outdoor screen.
“It fits actually well with us because we have Feeder straight on stage afterwards. If you’re going to watch the game why not watch it with 6,000 otthers,” added Westworth.

Stannard to captain Australia at London Sevens

Halfback James Stannard will captain the Australian Rugby Sevens squad during the final two legs of the IRB Sevens World Series in the absence of regular skipper Patrick McCutcheon who is chasing Investec Bank Super 14 glory with the NSW Waratahs.


Stannard will lead a confident Australian side at the London (22-23 May) and Edinburgh Sevens (29-30 May) alongside fellow experienced campaigners Henry Vanderglas and Ed Jenkins who return to the squad for the first time this season.


Youngsters Jesse Parahi and Daniel Yakopo are set to make their Sevens debuts at Twickenham - in front of an expected crowd of 30,000 - while Bernard Foley, Clinton Sills and Nick Phipps return to the mix after extended injury stints.


Australia head into the penultimate event on the IRB Sevens circuit in fourth place on the overall standings after a Plate final victory over reigning champions South Africa in Hong Kong took their season tally to 78 points.


A strong performance at Twickenham could see Australia overtake third-placed Fiji (94) although England, who trail Australia by just two points in fifth, could prove a serious threat on home soil.


Samoa (124) hold a three-point lead over New Zealand (121) at the top of the table after consecutive Cup Final victories in Hong Kong, Adelaide and Las Vegas.


Australian Rugby Sevens coach Michael O’Connor says he believes his side has the right ingredients to contend for the London title.


“We’ve only got a couple of newcomers that haven’t played in an IRB tournament,” O’Connor says.


“The side’s got a good balance, a good mix of experience and a few older players that have come back who have had some Sevens experience in the past and I think that puts us in really good stead.


“We’ve got players that really want to be here, we’ve gone out an actively picked the players that we’ve wanted and I think our side has a good chemistry with the desire to win and to improve.


“There’s really been a turnaround I think in Sevens, we’re taking it more seriously now, I’ve got players asking me, ringing me, trying to find out what is the criteria, what is the selection process for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi later in the year and I think it’s great.”


Australia have been drawn in Pool D alongside England, Scotland and Russia.


Sevens series regulars from this year Ed Quirk, Liam Gill, Kimami Sitauti, Robbie Coleman and Dominic Shipperely are unavailable for the London and Edinburgh tournaments after earning selection in David Nucifora’s Australian U20s squad which will compete at the IRB Junior World Championships in Argentina in June.


Australian Sevens squad for London and Edinburgh: James Stannard (capt), Nick Phipps, Jacob Taylor, Brackin Karauria-Henry, Bernard Foley, Ed Jenkins, Ed Stubbs, Jesse Parahi, Daniel Yakopo, Clinton Sills, Sam Latunipulu, Henry Vanderglas.

England’s opponents named for Emirates Airline London Sevens

Clashes with Australia and Scotland are the highlights for England at the Emirates Airline London Sevens as the pools and fixtures are announced for the tournament.Ben Ryan’s side will be going all out to defend their title at Twickenham and also face Russia in the day one pool stage on May 22.Last year England took the trophy and delighted the record crowd, beating New Zealand 31-26 with a sudden-death try in extra time.

This year promises to attract an even bigger attendance with more than 30,000 tickets already sold.With just two legs remaining in this year’s IRB Sevens World Series, the home side need to pick up full points if they are to overtake Australia – who are four points ahead – and close the 20-point gap between themselves and third placed Fiji. Having lost out to the Wallabies 17-12 in Adelaide last month, a week later England turned the tables with a 26-19 victory in the Hong Kong quarter final and will be banking on home advantage when the two teams meet in the last pool match of day one.

Head coach Ryan said: "We can’t wait to return to Twickenham and get our title defence underway. We are up against tough opposition in the pool stages, with Russia, Scotland and Australia, but coming to London for our home event is always special and I’m hoping this will give the players an extra boost as they play in front of their family and friends."Last year the crowd were fantastic, they really got the behind the players right the way to the final. This year promises to be even more exciting with the superhero fancy dress theme and we hope to see as many fans as possible out in fancy dress on Sunday taking part in the record attempt."The action kicks off on Saturday at 10.30am with leaders Samoa taking on the improving USA. Other highlights include Fiji v South Africa (6.44pm) and second place New Zealand v Kenya at 7.06pm, before England take on Australia at 7.28pm.

Small hits the big time

RFU Elite Referee Andrew Small has been appointed to the IRB International Referee panel for the first time in his career.

Small, 34, will take charge of South Africa’s home test against Italy in June.

Further RFU Elite referee appointments include Dave Pearson (44) who has whistle blowing duties for the Argentina v Scotland test in the summer and Wayne Barnes (30) who will be in charge of New Zealand v Ireland and Samoa v Japan in June, and the Tri-Nations match between South Africa and Australia in September.

Robin Goodliffe (53) joins the Assistant Referee panel for the first time. JP Doyle (31) and Greg Garner (29) have been appointed to the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship panel for the tournament in Argentina.

Chris White (47) a test veteran of over 50 games comes off the IRB International Referee Panel after 12 years. Chris will continue to be part of the RFU Elite Referee unit for the remainder of the season.

Head of Elite Referee Development, Ed Morrison said: "The appointments are richly deserved and all reflect the hard work that Andrew, Dave, Wayne, Robin, JP and Greg have put into their jobs over the last 12 months.

"Tony Spreadbury, Brian Campsall and I with Rob Andrew’s full input and backing will continue to develop our officials to ensure that we have a strong presence on the international panels and the experience they will gain from all of these games is essential to their on-going development.

"I’d like to thank Chris White for the superb work he has carried out as a member of the IRB International Referee’s Panel over the last 12 years and his track record speaks for itself. He will continue to be a key member of the Elite Referee Unit until the end of this season at which time we’ll discuss with him a suitable career pathway.

"Chris has a huge amount to offer the game and we would like to utilise his considerable experience in the best way possible going forward."

Australia Sevens skipper earns Super deal

Australia Rugby Sevens captain Patrick McCutcheon is determined to give a career-best performance at the International Rugby Sevens Adelaide after revealing the event on 19-21 March will be the last time he will compete in the IRB Sevens World Series on home soil. McCutcheon has been rewarded for a brilliant 2009/10 campaign by becoming the latest player from Michael O'Connor's young squad to earn an Investec Bank Super 14 contract. The Sydney University back rower, who addressed the media at his team's Captain's Run at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, said he has penned a two-year deal with the NSW Waratahs and is set to join them at the completion of the current Sevens Series. McCutcheon, 22, follows in the footsteps of former Sevens teammates Luke Morahan and Richard Kingi, who both won Super contracts with the Queensland Reds after excellent performances during the 2008/09 World Series. The pair also won selection on last year's Qantas Wallabies Spring Tour, joining fellow Sevens graduate James O'Connor who made the leap the season earlier. McCutcheon credits Rugby Sevens as being an important pathway in his development as a player over the past three years.

SA Sevens eager to bounce back in Adelaide

South Africa captain Mzwandile Stick has his fingers crossed that their Plate success at the USA Sevens earlier this month will spark the IRB Sevens World Series title defence into live and result in a third successive crown in Adelaide. Standing in as captain for the injured Paul Delport, Stick has seen South Africa beaten in the Cup quarter finals of all four legs of the 2009/10 Series to date, three times at the hands of Fiji and once to New Zealand.

The Plate success in Las Vegas, which came after confidence-boosting victories over England and Fiji, was South Africa's best result of the season but still leaves them 48 points behind Series leaders New Zealand in the overall standings. "As a team we're obviously not pleased with seventh place on the log and our overall performance so far," admitted Stick. "However, we are working very hard to eliminate those marginal errors and hopefully our Plate victory in Las Vegas will kick-start a better run of results for us."

Stick acknowledges that the loss of several key players who helped secure a first overall Series title has not helped their cause with injury or elevation to the Super 14 ranks having robbed coach Paul Treu of the likes of Robert Ebersohn, Gio Aplon and Renfred Dazel among others.

at Twickenham to Nintendo to tap into rugby fanbase

Nintendo UK and the Rugby Football Union have formed a one year commercial partnership, bringing the gaming brand to Twickenham Stadium.
The partnership, set to run until September 2010, will give Nintendo a presence at key rugby events over the year at Twickenham, including The Investec Challenge Series matches (England versus Australia, Argentina and New Zealand), The Nomura Varsity Match, The RBS 6 Nations, The Emirates Airline London Sevens and the England versus Barbarians match.

Key Nintendo titles such as Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus will be promoted through an integrated marketing campaign across perimeter signage, CRM, big screen advertising, pitch side competitions and consumer sampling, as well as creative animations on the scoreboards.
David Yarnton, general manager at Nintendo UK, said: "Working alongside the RFU is a great opportunity for us to target and talk to a family audience, not just through traditional advertising methods but through more experiential, hands on approach through product sampling and our interactive Nintendo Zones."