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TONY Roques has joined the England sevens coaching staff ahead of the start of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

The former England sevens player has become assistant coach to Simon Amor.

Roques had a distinguished playing career where he spent seven years on the sevens circuit as well as spells with Saracens, London Irish and Exeter Chiefs.

He became head coach of Cornish side Launceston RFC in 2010, a position he held for two years and was recently head of rugby for The Leys school in Cambridge.

England Sevens coach Simon Amor said: “Rocky was an exceptional sevens forward and was a key part of an England side that won tournaments. He built his game on an incredible fitness level and work ethic and an abrasive approach to the contact area. In the short time he has worked with the squad we have already seen these traits come through in the development of the players."

“Everyone knows we have exceptional pace in our team but there are always areas and ways of improving as we continue to be highly competitive at the highest levels on the sevens circuit. I am confident that in Rocky we have an outstanding and unique coach who will not only improve the players in the short term but will also help grow the England sevens programme in our collective drive for sustained success."


The England team kick start the season next weekend at the Gold Coast in Australia.

Phil Burgess will captain the squad, while there are World Series debuts for Charlie Hayter, Alex Davis and Tom Bowen.

The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

ENGLAND will face New Zealand tomorrow in the quarterfinals of the opening HSBC Sevens World Series tournament in the Gold Coast.

England’s Dan Norton scored two length-of-the-field tries in the opening match against Argentina but it wasn’t enough to beat the South American side, losing narrowly 21-19. But two hard fought wins over the United States and Canada meant England finished second in Pool D to ensure they stayed in the cup competition going into the final day.

England conceded early in their first game against Argentina and promptly lost playmaker Christian Lewis-Pratt to injury, giving Alex Davis his world series debut. England responded with speedster Norton scoring his first try of the game from his own line to level things up 7-7 going into the half-time break. However the woodwork would ultimately be the difference between the two sides. Marcus Watson opened his season’s account and again Norton from deep within his own 22 dotted down under the posts for England. It was Watson’s attempted conversion of his own try from out wide which bounced back off the uprights and enabled Argentina to keep their two point buffer.


The second pool match against USA in hot Australian conditions was closely contested and England spent most of the first half defending. However Alex Gray on the stroke of half-time managed to turn ruck ball over for England deep in his half and broke away to give his side a 7-0 lead at half time. Zack Test levelled things up for the United States in the second half but debutant Charlie Hayter scored his first ever world series try for England to secure a 14-7 victory.


England opened the scoring against Canada in their final pool game through John Brake who burst through a tackle to touch down under the sticks, only for Harry Jones to cancel out the score. However it was Norton again who sped past Mike Fuailefau on the outside to give England the lead at the break. Watson scored England’s third try of the match after Norton danced past most of the Canadian team. Sean Duke reduced the deficit for Canada in the final minute to make it 19-12 but it was enough for England to set up a quarterfinal match against the defending world series and Gold Coast champions New Zealand.


England Sevens Head Coach Simon Amor said: “ I was very proud of the way the guys picked themselves up against a very tough USA team. We hardly had the ball and defended very well and fought well to beat a very good Canada side as well.


“On attack Dan Norton was outstanding, his evasion and pace was breathtaking and in defence James Rodwell was excellent. The experienced guys did well for us today.


“Playing New Zealand in the quarterfinals doesn’t get much tougher. But if the guys can put together the heart, the attitude and the work ethic in defence, and if we can get the ball into a little bit of space and use Dan Norton and our skill sets, then we have got a good chance.”


England play New Zealand, winners of Pool A, on Sunday morning at 1:48am live on Sky Sports HD.

ENGLAND Sevens finished third in the opening HSBC Sevens World Series tournament in the Gold Coast after beating Commonwealth Games gold medallists South Africa in the third and fourth playoff this morning.

The day began for England with arguably the toughest quarter-final match of the tournament against the defending world series and Gold Coast champions New Zealand but it was the men in white who dominated proceedings. A defeat to Fiji, who went on to win the tournament, in the semi-final ended England’s cup competition run but Simon Amor and his men will be satisfied with their start to the season.

England got off to a flyer with a stunning victory over New Zealand. Alex Gray opened the scoring after a great short ball from Dan Bibby who had made a half break in the middle of the pitch. New Zealand responded almost immediately with Sherwin Stowers beating two players to score under the posts. But it was England who finished the first half well with captain Phil Burgess bursting over the line on the back of some good attacking pressure. Christian Lewis-Pratt, who recovered from his leg injury he picked up against Argentina yesterday, added the extra points from out wide.

The second half for England started as the first finished with Lewis-Pratt extending England’s lead to 19-7 with an unconverted try. England kept the pressure on the Kiwis as they pinned the men in black in their own half before a loose pass was scooped up by Dan Norton who skipped away to score his fourth try of the tournament. Phil Burgess scored his second try of the match after picking the ball up from the base of a ruck 15 metres out to scamper away. The 31-7 end result was the biggest defeat inflicted on New Zealand since 2003.

Next up was Fiji in the semi-final who took just 30 seconds to notch up their first try which was duly converted. England bounced back immediately as they attacked from within their own 22. Dan Bibby made the crucial break before offloading to Lewis-Pratt on the inside who ran away and scored under the posts to tie the game up 7-7. But it was a brutal response by Fiji who scored three unanswered tries, two from Osea Kolinisau and one to Jerry Tuwai as England went to the break 26-7 down.

England began the second half with plenty of possession in the middle of the park but it was Fiji who struck again with Savenaca Rawaca then Isake Katonibau scoring in quick succession taking the Pacific Islanders out to a 38-7 lead. Apisai Naqalevu crashed over in the corner for another Fiji try with two minutes to go and Apisalome Waqatabu finished things off with his seventh score of the weekend. The full-time whistle blew with Fiji running out 48-7 winners.

England recovered well though and finished the day on a high with a positive 19-0 win in the third and fourth play-off over a strong South African side. Alex Gray got England off the mark as he used his strength to burst through two tacklers with Lewis-Pratt adding the conversion. Norton extended England’s lead after a minute of excellent build up and quickly scored another taking his world series career tally to 170. The 19-0 lead at half time finished as the final score and ensured England picked up 17 valuable world series points.

England Sevens Head Coach Simon Amor said: “They team played a really good game against New Zealand, and I was really pleased for them. The team had fought hard on day one and they responded well today. The way Fiji played with their off-loading game it was so difficult to beat which was disappointing. But mentally for the team to pick themselves back up and to beat a very good South African side, it showed a lot about the mental toughness of the group, so overall I am pleased.

“It is a solid, good and positive start, and with a couple of guys coming back from injury, I hope that we can build on this. But the importance is we have to continue to take steps forward as a programme. You can see already by the standard of the tournament, that this series is going to be so tough this season. We came third in the Gold Coast last year and third again this year which is good but we want to take another step forward.”