Barden in as England look to build on Sydney

SIMON Amor has named his 12-man squad for the Las Vegas Sevens taking place on March 1-3.

Amor has made one change to the squad that won bronze in Sydney earlier this month with Jamie Barden being called into the side for his World Series debut.

Barden, 19, who is in the Harlequins academy, made his first international appearance for England at the Marcoussis leg of the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Sevens Series in June last year where Amor’s side secured the bronze medal.

Barden will be accompanied by fellow Premiership academy teammates Charlton Kerr (Northampton) and Ryan Olowofela (Leicester) alongside a hugely experienced contingent led by Tom Mitchell, who surpassed 1,500 World Series points in Sydney.

Amor said: “Jamie has really earned his chance to play on the World Series and we’re looking forward to seeing his hard work pay off next week.

“We have a very talented and experienced side but it’s also really encouraging to see how well some of our younger talent have been performing recently.”

England have been drawn in Pool C and will face Chile, Japan and South Africa in the group stage of the three-day competition.

Amor added: “We were pleased with our third place finish in Sydney which has put us in good stead going into this next tournament.

“The narrow pitch at the Sam Boyd Stadium always poses a unique but exciting challenge which we’re relishing.

“Sevens is growing at a rapid pace in the States and the crowd support is always fantastic – we can’t wait to get out there.”