Dubai: England return to their happy hunting ground in Dubai this week for an early season pick-me-up after a disastrous start to the IRB Sevens World Series at Australia’s Gold Coast last month.
Emirates airline Dubai Rugby Sevens champions for the past two seasons running, the Red Roses are on course for a historic hat-trick of wins in front of their ‘home-from-home’ support at the Sevens Stadium.
Currently tenth in the world standings on seven points after one event after losing in the bowl final to Spain last month, things can only get better for England coach Ben Ryan.
But without their injured scrum-half talisman Mat Turner — last year’s player of the tournament in Dubai and World Series top try-scorer with 38 — Ryan knows his team face an uphill battle to make it three out of three in Dubai.
“We couldn’t be returning to Dubai at a better time,” Ryan told Gulf News in an exclusive pre-tournament chat. “We had high hopes for the IRB Sevens World Series but were really hit hard by our performance at the Gold Coast. It just wasn’t good enough and now we’re left playing catch-up to scramble our way back up the table as best we can. We really want to do ourselves justice in Dubai.
“There’s a big chance we can make it three in a row and we’re pretty hungry after our performance at the Gold Coast. Our lads felt a little bit embarrassed and stayed in their houses for a few weeks after we came home — they didn’t even collect the milk.
“But we’re back here in Dubai where we’ve had great success. Our lads feel the same as I do that we’re not going to give up the trophy easily and that this is going to be a title that we win again.
“You can’t hide it, we know that we get amazing support in Dubai and we’ve had some magic memories there in recent years. But we won’t just be relying on the Dubai factor.
“The boys need to provide their own energy and spark. If we really can do that as a team, as well as the atmosphere gained from the Dubai Sevens crowd, then I’d be really pleased. What I want to see is real ambition and drive from the lads that isn’t just given to us on a plate by the crowd, but one that we can provide by ourselves as well.
“So we’re incredibly excited about coming back to Dubai, we know how great the support is and we love coming back to the city. It’s an exciting place to be and it’s come at just the right time to buoy us after the Gold Coast.”
England finished third in Pool C at the Gold Coast behind Samoa and Kenya but ahead of Spain. They then qualified through to the Bowl final with victories over Scotland and Canada, only to be shocked by Spain, who they had narrowly beaten in the group phase.
Ryan said: “We just didn’t do well enough. Incidents and injuries took their toll, we counted up to a dozen incidents and if we had got just one of them right we could have been in the cup quarter-finals and who knows from there.
“We didn’t click and collectively as management, coaches and playing staff we just didn’t perform to the level expected. We didn’t hit the standards we deem non-negotiable.
“It’s not a case of drastic changes. We didn’t perform in the Gold Coast for a whole variety of reasons and we put that down to ourselves and no-one else.”
In Dubai they are in Pool C alongside South Africa, Samoa and Portugal and Ryan said: “We have the best record of all teams in the last five years here and we have got a really tough pool with South Africa and Samoa first up, and Portugal in the last game, who beat us two years ago on our way to a Dubai title. So it’s tough but that’s how we like it. When we’ve won titles here we’ve always had to beat the top teams in the world and it seems to have worked for us.
“Based on our last tournament we only have ourselves to fear. That fact things didn’t go right was nearly all down to us. We’ve got to take a long, hard look at ourselves and work out what we need to do. We know they’ll be a threat every game, every team we’re up against is very good and they are all improving.”
As well as the performance in Australia, Ryan’s side were hit by the long-term injury of Turner, who is out with a broken ankle, and also flanker Chris Cracknell, who has been sidelined with knee ligament damage. As a result, 2009 World Player of the Year winger Ollie Philips has returned to the squad for Dubai as well as playmaker Dan Bibby and two uncapped players — scrum-half James Lightfoot Brown and winger Ollie Marchon.
“It’s unfortunate we’re without last year’s Player of the Tournament for Dubai in Mat Turner. He came on to the scene and really made his mark in Dubai last year. But its up to somebody else now,” Ryan said.
“We’ve got some very talented players and I’m sure somebody else will quickly take on his crown and do the job for us.
“Last year I knew Mat was playing well, but I could have picked anyone in our squad to be the spark for us and the same will be the case in Dubai this year. We’ve a whole host of players ready to step up and lead from the front and, once they do, it will get contagious and spread.
“We’ve got a lot of hard work to do to work our way up the table and that starts Friday. We’re in a bit of a lull at the moment but they’re a very resilient group and I’m sure they’ll use all the stuff that’s happened in the last few weeks to their advantage. So that when we come into Dubai we’ll be full of confidence and ready to defend our crown and take the treble.”
