England call in experienced Vilk
England have called newcomer Jeff Williams and former captain Andy Vilk into their squad for this weekend’s London Sevens.
Head coach Ben Ryan had needed to make one change for the final leg of the Sevens World Series after former England Under-20 wing Mark Odejobi fractured a bone in his foot last weekend.
But scrumhalf John Brake is suffering from concussion caused by a blow to the head in the Glasgow final against New Zealand, so both the powerful Vilk and France-based Williams join the group.
England face France, the USA and Samoa in Saturday’s Pool B matches with Fiji or Wales their potential opponents if they reach the quarterfinals.
Former Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks centre Vilk, 30, captained England Sevens in 2007-08 before moving to Treviso and has been playing under Neil Back at Rugby Lions this season.
Williams, 23, is a centre with RC Chateaurenard in the Federale 1 division in France this season who previously played for the Hamiltons club and the Sharks academy in South Africa.
“We’re lucky to be able to call on two quality players who’ve spent a lot of time with the squad,” said Ryan.
“Andy’s very experienced with more than 30 tournaments under his belt at this level while Jeff’s got a good pedigree, has impressed us in training and by the way he’s fitted into our group so well.
“We feel we’re on an upward curve at the moment and we played some great rugby in Glasgow so we’re eager to finish on a high on what should be a fantastic occasion at Twickenham.”
England are third in the table behind New Zealand and Fiji going into the final leg of a series in which the eight tournament titles have been shared by five different teams.
England Sevens: Dan Bibby, Chris Brightwell, Chris Cracknell, Sam Edgerley, Tom Mitchell, Dan Norton, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Mathew Turner, Rob Vickerman, Andy Vilk, Jeff Williams.
