They might have been victorious last time around but England Sevens head coach Simon Amor wants his team to be better than ever when they run out in Glasgow this weekend.
England’s troops are leading the charge for Team GB qualification for Rio 2016 and put themselves right in the mix when they lifted the trophy in Tokyo in the latest Sevens World Series leg.
A 21-14 win against South Africa in the final pushed England into fourth and ahead of Australia in the overall standings with two tournaments remaining.
This time around they go in Pool A against France, Russia and the Australians and Amor has opted for two changes from the squad that triumphed in Japan.
Richard de Carpentier and Warwick Lehmert both come in to replace John Brake and Josh Watkins and Amor believes his squad can keep getting better as the Series nears its climax.
“Our pool will be a big challenge. Australia are an excellent team and they have played consistently well all season,” said Amor. “They will bounce back after Tokyo and be incredibly strong because they have some very talented players.
“It has been a relatively short turnaround time since Tokyo but it has been good with a number of guys who have been out injured getting back into training and have made the competition for places the best it’s been all season.
“One of the goals of the programme was to win a tournament. The guys have worked hard all year round and their effort and attitude has been outstanding. We have won and lost some close games and the reward of winning a tournament was good for the guys.
“But there were areas we didn’t quite get right which we have been working very hard at addressing and we are making sure we put ourselves in the best place possible to perform in Glasgow."
Meanwhile, Simon Middleton has recalled Rachael Burford and Kay Wilson for the penultimate round of the womens’ Series at the Twickenham Stoop and at Twickenham Stadium.
“Experience will be key for this leg of the series and both Rachael and Kay, who are experienced sevens players and also World Cup winners, offer us that,” said Middleton.
“It is also great to welcome Kay into the tournament squad. She has been so unlucky with injuries this season but she has been training really well and showed such positivity throughout the year.”
© Sportsbeat 2015