LONDON: England and Wales will play a one-off sevens match immediately after the Six Nations game between the same nations at London’s Twickenham ground on Sunday.
Following the inclusion of Sevens for the 2016 Olympics held in Rio, interest in the sport has grown, with last year’s London Sevens attracting a record 113,000 crowd over two days at Twickenham.
“The whole squad is looking forward to the chance of being a part of such a massive rugby occasion at Twickenham Stadium,” said England sevens coach Simon Amor in a Rugby Football Union statement issued yesterday.
“We get great support from the senior coaches and players, and our aim is to perform at a level that does them and the shirt proud,” he added.
The sides have met twice already this season, with England winning comfortably on both occasions, 33-12 in Dubai and 21-7 in Wellington.
Stuart Lancaster, coach of the senior England 15-a-side team, said: “Sevens is an important part of the England Rugby programme with an exciting future ahead in the build-up to the Commonwealth Games (in Glasgow) this summer.
“England have a skilful and athletic squad and sevens is a great spectacle so I know our fans will enjoy watching them in what should be a great game.”
England are currently fourth in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings, seven places higher than Wales, after five of the nine events that make up the tour.
Wales sevens coach Gareth Williams said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of such a prestigious rugby occasion.
“It also provides an opportunity for a number of our development players to stake a claim for a place in the squad to travel to Tokyo and Hong Kong later this month.” Both sides will use this match as preparation for the next two tournaments in Tokyo (March 22-23) and Hong Kong (March 28-30).
In the Six Nations, Europe’s premier 15-a-side championship, England and Wales are involved in a four-way tie at the top of the standings with Ireland and France.AFP
