Eng Sevens tweak squad for Cape Town
England finished runners-up in Dubai last Saturday beating Argentina (14-7) and USA (24-19) on day two, before losing out to series title holders Fiji (28-17) in the Final.
On Saturday Simon Amor's side face three African sides, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa, who will all enjoy home support during their leg of the circuit.
Amor said: "We didn't quite click as well as we would have hoped last weekend but it was pleasing that we managed to find a way of delivering the performances and results we needed at the right time. The other positive from Dubai was that we had our academy team playing as the Royals in the invitational tournament.
"Warwick was part of this squad, which gave him the competitive rugby he needed after being injured for much of pre-season. He has earned his place but at the expense of John Brake, who was excellent both in preparation tournaments and in Dubai. His experience has been incredibly valuable for the young players in the squad and it was a tough call to make.
"The other change is the inclusion of Alex Davis, who missed out on the first tournament due to compassionate reasons. He replaces Ruaridh McConnochie who had one of the best debut tournaments I have ever seen but has been unable to recover from an injury to his lower back in time to play. Alex trained really well during pre-season and we are excited to see the impact he will make."
Cape Town is a new venue on the world series this year, having replaced Port Elizabeth and has been an ideal location for the players to recover ahead of the second tournament.
"This weekend brings a completely different challenge and we have talked about this," added Amor. "We are essentially going from a home tournament, where we get great positive support from a strong expat crowd, to an away tournament where we are playing the three African sides.
"It will be an amazing experience and the guys are incredibly excited but it is important that we get the mindset right.
"Cape Town is an amazing city and it has been good for the guys to be able to go out and explore, to switch off and manage their emotions and energy levels in a quiet week so that they are ready to give it everything in the challenging games they face tomorrow."
England Sevens: Dan Bibby, Tom Bowen, Phil Burgess, Cameron Cowell, Alex Davis, Richard De Carpentier, Alex Gray, Warwick Lahmert, Tom Mitchell, Dan Norton, James Rodwell, Josh Watkins.
