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Report: England scrap Sevens programme
By Online Editors
England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) will drop its sevens programme as it tries to cope with the financial impact of COVID-19 , the Telegraph has reported.
The news comes as the RFU is projected to lose £107 million in revenue as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The RFU told players this week that their contracts would not be renewed at the end of the month. The decision comes as a serious blow to the England Sevens players that hoped to compete in the 2021 Japan Olympics.
According to the report, the RFU have said that they can no longer support the sevens team given the current climate. The England sevens team is not funded by UK Sport.
An RFU spokesman told the Telegraph, "We have approached UK Sport for funding and are exploring the option for a Team GB sevens team."
"We are also in dialogue with World Rugby about the programme for the World Sevens Series and when games are likely to be played. With no current support in funding we are not in a position to sustain the team in its current format.”
The England Sevens team has enjoyed consistent success over the past 3 years.
England ended their 2018/19 campaign by securing Olympic qualification on behalf of Great Britain despite missing a host of key personnel through injury. Youngsters Ben Harris and Jamie Barden shone.
New Zealand was awarded the Sevens Series this year as it was prematurely finished due to the Pandemic.
The decision followed detailed and constructive dialogue with the host and participating unions, and had been taken with the health and wellbeing of the rugby community and the wider public as top priority.
New Zealand were awarded both the women’s and men’s titles courtesy of being top of the standings before the pandemic interrupted the Series with five of the eight women’s rounds and six of the ten men’s rounds successfully completed.
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Latest Comments
You forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time.
Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
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