Sevens Series Gets Underway in Australia

The Gold Coast Sevens, round one of the HSBC Sevens World Series, is underway in Australia.

 IRB Sevens Player of the Year, Cecil Afrika, has recovered from injury to make the team for South Africa and joins the returning Robert Ebersohn, who plays for the Springbok Sevens team for the first time since winning the World Series title in 2008/09.

Other notable inclusions returning to the Sevens game are Uale Mai and Lolo Lui for Samoa; Isoa Damu, Rob Vickerman and Greg Barden for England; Osea Kolinisau and Setafano Cakau for Fiji and Nicolas Bruzzone for Argentina.

Meanwhile, Fiji's Senivalati Vunibola makes history in becoming the oldest man to make his debut on the World Series. The 39-year-old is a towering second row forward who captains Naitisiri and has also plied his trade in France and Spain.

In all, there are 49 players making their World Series debuts, with England and South Africa the only teams to name all 12 players with prior experience.

"It [captaining your country] is one of your dreams when you first put on your boots so it is a huge privilege, but it is a squad effort. It takes seven players, and more importantly 12 as a squad to make an impact on the Series," said Greg Barden, England captain. "We have a lot of faces from old, everyone has had a tournament so there is a lot of experience in the squad."

2011 / 2012 HSBC Sevens World Series Schedule

Australia - 25 - 26 November 2011 - Skilled Stadium, Gold Coast
Dubai - 2 - 3 December 2011 - 7he Sevens
South Africa - 9 - 10 December 2011 - Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
New Zealand - 3 - 4 February 2012 - Westpac Stadium, Wellington
USA - 10 - 12 February 2012 - Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas
Hong Kong - 23 - 25 March 2012 - Hong Kong Stadium
Japan - 31 March - 1 April 2012 - Prince Chichibu Stadium, Tokyo
Scotland - 5 - 6 May 2012 - Murrayfield, Edinburgh
England - 12 - 13 May 2012 - Twickenham, London

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