Red Bull gives Sevens boost

ENGLAND women and Sevens performance manager Charlie Hayter hopes the newly-launched Red Bull Rugby Combine can unlock hidden talent into the sport.

As part of its ongoing partnership with the RFU, Red Bull has launched a unique opportunity giving youngsters the chance of earn a shot at representing their country on the Sevens international stage.

The combine is made up of four tests – squat power, bench power, speed and a vertical jump test – before ranking them against the rest of the country.

Hayter, below, who played for England Sevens in 30 World Series events, said: “We’re going round the country to see if we can unearth some of the untapped talent in the sport. We did a bit of a roadshow with the Red Bull container that’s got some amazing testing and gym equipment in it.

“We want to look at some key strength and power outputs that could transfer into the England 7s environment. People say 7s is just a fitness game but it’s easy to get fit and very hard to get powerful and quick, so those physical marks are the key barometers for us. The highest per cent from round one were invited to a training session in London. It was great to get them on the pitch and show them what 7s is all about.”

Hayter says the combine can be huge for the development of Sevens, and rugby in general.

He said: “A big thing would be getting a bigger amount of people into the game and show that 7s can be a pathway into becoming an international and Olympian, and potentially go into the 15s game as well. It’s huge for us having another avenue for people to come into

our sport.”