Aussie Squad Named for London & Edinburgh Sevens
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Aussie Squad Named for London & Edinburgh Sevens
May 18, 2007 - 1:53pm
Story by: ARU
Four Super 14 players have been called up by Australian Sevens coach Glen Ella to bolster the squad ahead of the final two tournaments in the iRB Sevens World Series in London and Edinburgh.
Brumbies Anthony Faingaa, Tim Wright and Luke Burgess will join Queensland Reds counterpart AJ Gilbert in the 12-man squad that will travel to London on Sunday.
Ella has maintained the nucleus of the team that stormed past South Africa in the Adelaide Sevens Plate Final with Ant Sauer, James Lew, Ben Lucas, Vili Ratu and Nathan Trist all earning a recall for the final two tournaments of the season.
Sauer will captain the side in the absence of Series skipper Tim Atkinson who is currently in Japan.
Randwick centre, Nick Cummins has also been retained and is the only player to have been in each of Glen Ella’s squads throughout the series.
Queensland’s Blair Connor returns to the squad after his successful showing in the Under 19s World Championship in Belfast last month, while former Australian Under 19s flyhalf Christian Lealiifano will make his Sevens debut in London.
After successful tournaments in Hong Kong and Adelaide, Glen Ella is expecting his team to continue their good form and push for a semi-final berth in both tournaments.
“This is a young squad but the players we have brought in are enthusiastic to get on the paddock and perform well,” Ella said.
“There’s a lot of ability in the squad and I’m expecting us to be pushing for a semi-final spot at both tournaments and finish the Series strongly.”
The squad departs for London on Sunday evening.
Australian Sevens Squad:
Player, D.O.B, Hometown/ Suburb
Luke Burgess, 20.08.83, Kingston, ACT (Waratahs/Brumbies)
Blair Connor, 29.09.88, Banyo, QLD
Nick Cummins, 05.10.87, Matraville, NSW
Anthony Faingaa, 02.02.87, Queanbeyan, NSW (Brumbies)
AJ Gilbert, 19.06.87, Dorrigo, NSW (Reds)
Christian Lealiifano, 24.09.87, Monash, ACT (Brumbies Academy)
James Lew, 18.03.83, Cammeray, NSW
Ben Lucas, 19.12.87, Mt Gravatt, QLD
Vili Ratu, 08.07.75, Heathcote, NSW
Ant Sauer (c), 18.09.80, Wooloowin, QLD
Nathan Trist, 22.12.82, Tamarama, NSW
Tim Wright, 23.11.82, Maroubra, NSW (Brumbies)
Coach: Glen Ella
Assistant Coach/Manager: Brian Melrose
Physiotherapist: Alan Davies
London Sevens – Day One:
Australia v Georgia @ 10:06am Saturday (7:06pm Saturday AEST)
Australia v Canada @ 1:12pm Saturday (10:12pm Saturday AEST)
Australia v Samoa @ 5:14pm Saturday (2:14am Sunday AEST)
Note: London is 7 (seven) hours behind AWST
Edinburgh Sevens – Day One:
Australia v Portugal @ 10:18am (7:18am Saturday AEST)
Australia v Kenya @ 1:24pm (10:24pm Saturday AEST)
Australia v Fiji @ 5:14pm (2:14am Sunday AEST)
Note: Edinburgh is 7 (seven) hours behind AWST
IRB Sevens World Series Sevens Standings (after round six):
Fiji 104
Samoa 94
New Zealand 90
South Africa 80
England 48
France 28
Australia 26
Scotland 18
Kenya 16
Wales 14
Tonga 10
Canada 8
Argentina 7
Tunisia 6
Portugal 2
USA 2
Russia 1
