Record breaking Rodwell to captain England in Singapore

James Rodwell will captain England Sevens in Singapore this weekend in what will be a record 69th consecutive tournament for the forward.
Since making his debut in the Dubai leg of the World Series back in 2008, the 31-year-old has never missed a tournament and he will beat South Africa‘s Frankie Horne who had played 68 back-to-back tournaments.
England make two changes to the squad with John Brake and Sam Egerton coming in for Phil Burgess and Tom Mitchell who are rested ahead of the Rio Olympics.
Simon Amor’s side will take on Portugal, Samoa and Fiji in the pool stages.
“James will set an incredible record that can’t be broken when you consider the intensity of the game now,” said Head Coach Amor.
“To go 69 tournaments back to back is phenomenal. Most players can’t string together a handful on the bounce and for him to reach that number, especially as a forward with an aggressive style of play, shows just how durable he is.
“He really is a superstar, he is incredibly professional, as you must be to play this game, especially for as long and consistently as he has.
“What is also impressive is his desire to continue developing. He is the senior member of the programme but is still improving and has more years in him.
“It will be exciting to see how much better he can become as his experience continues to be so important for the young guys and their personal development.”
Egerton earns his first cap for England Sevens after featuring in a number of invitational tournaments this season.
“Sam was recently on loan at Harlequins and did well for them and is a great example of a player who has come in, trained really hard with the programme, and has the potential to return to 15-a-side rugby, better from the sevens experience,” added Amor.
“While Sam makes his debut, John takes his total to 41 tournaments and he is a player with an outstanding attitude who has been a great asset for England over the years.”
England Sevens: Tom Bowen, John Brake, Cameron Cowell, Richard de Carpentier, Sam Egerton, Charlie Hayter, Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas, Warwick Lahmert, Ollie Lindsay-Hague (Harlequins), Ruaridh McConnochie, Dan Norton, James Rodwell (Capt.)