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Gray one of four changes for England Sevens
Former England Under 20 captain Alex Gray is one of four changes new England coach Simon Amor makes for the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens.
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Wed
20
November,
2013
Gray, 22, captained an England age grade side containing Owen Farrell, Joe Launchbury, Christian Wade and Mako Vunipola to the final of the 2011 Junior World Championship, and moved from London Irish last season after signing a full-time England Sevens contract.
He is one of four changes from round one on the Gold Coast and is joined by Marcus Watson, who scored 27 tries in the World Series last season; Jeff Williams, who launched the 2013 Marriott London Sevens with a hat-trick of tries against Fiji, and Sam Edgerley, the half back whose extra-time try clinched the 2013 Cup title in Wellington.
They replace Rob Vickerman, Christian Lewis-Pratt, John Brake and Chris Cracknell.
England face Canada, the USA and Fiji on the opening day at 7he Sevens, a venue where they won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011 under previous coach Ben Ryan, how in charge of the Fijians.
Under Amor, England finished third at the last month's opening round of the nine-stage series on the Gold Coast in Australia.
"We're still learning all the time, we've made progress over the last month and that's reflected in the selection for places for Dubai," said Amor.
"Competition has been fierce, which is exactly what you want as a coach to keep driving up standards, and this is an excellent opportunity for Alex Gray, Marcus Watson, Jeff Williams and Sam Edgerley to step up.
"We have more players from the full-time squad playing in The Royals in the international invitation event in Dubai and they have a chance to put their hands up for the third leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Port Elizabeth the following weekend."
Chris Cracknell captains 'The Royals' development side, which also includes contracted England players John Brake, Luke Fielden, Christian Lewis-Pratt, James Lightfoot-Brown and Ollie Marchon.
Rob Vickerman (back), Callum Wilson (toe) and Mark Odejobi (foot) missed out through injury.
England Sevens, Dubai: Dan Bibby, Phil Burgess, Sam Edgerley, Mike Ellery, Alex Gray, Tom Mitchell, Dan Norton, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Mathew Turner, Marcus Watson, Jeff Williams.
Last updated: Nov 20, 2013, 6:05:59 PM
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