Rugby
Falcons Squad for Sevens
8 August 2007
Newcastle Falcons have named their squad for the Middlesex Sevens, which takes place at Twickenham on Saturday August 18.
England Saxons scrum half Lee Dickson joins England Sevens flyer Ollie Phillips in a side which also sees giant Dutch wing Tim Visser aim to continue the hot scoring streak he produced in last season’s Guinness Premiership.
The Falcons squad will be coached by Mark Laycock who, as well as working with the Falcons academy, has also carved out a well-deserved reputation as a Sevens coaching specialist.
In the past six months Laycock has led the Falcons and its partner team, the Wailers, to trophy wins in Rome, Kinsale, Hawick and Langholm as well as the Falcons’ own tournament at Kingston Park, beating notable Sevens sides including Samurai International and earning a place in the final of the famous Melrose Sevens.
Laycock’s squad sees a host of Sevens specialists selected for the Middlesex competition, including Scottish forward Scott Riddell, Great Britain Students forward Paddy Dias, England Counties winger Jack Smales and Northumbria University’s Luke Fielden.
Five of the 11 players selected already have Guinness Premiership experience under their belts, with Laycock saying: “This is an exceptionally talented Sevens squad.
“Most of these guys have played lots of Sevens together, both for the Falcons and our partner team the Wailers, so they know the game plan inside out and have beaten some of the best Sevens teams around.
“We expect the standard of the competition to be tough, but we are sending what we believe is our best combination of Sevens players with the intention of winning the trophy.”
The Falcons will also be talking double Dutch at Twickenham, with the news that Holland Under-18s international centre Sep Visser could be making his Newcastle debut in the same side as older brother Tim.
Both siblings are sons of Holland’s most-capped player, No.8 Marc Visser, and news of their inclusion in the same side has already seen interest from the Dutch media in the rapidly-developing rugby nation, with Tim due to qualify for England this September on residency grounds.
“Tim has already proven to be a superb Sevens player with his pace, stepping, size and movement,” said Laycock, speaking about the older of the two brothers who turned 20 recently, and who was first spotted by the Falcons playing Sevens in his native Amsterdam three years ago.
“Sep is more of an unknown quantity in that he hasn’t played for us yet, but whenever he comes over to stay with Tim he always trains with the Falcons and he is someone we know well. He is still very young and is just learning the game, but if the opportunity comes for him to take the field at Twickenham then what a great experience that would be to take back to Holland as he continues to develop there.”
The pool stage of the Middlesex Sevens, which consists of all 12 Guinness Premiership teams, sees the Falcons pooled with Sale Sharks and Harlequins.
Their first match in the tournament is at 1.25pm when they tackle Quins, followed by their meeting with Sale in what is the last of all the pool matches at 2.45pm. Teams need to finish in the top two of the group to make the quarter-finals, from where the knock-out format is introduced.
Newcastle Falcons Middlesex Sevens squad:
- Tim Visser
- Scott Riddell
- Paddy Dias
- Lee Dickson
- Luke Fielden
- Adam Dehaty
- Ollie Phillips
- Ross Batty
- Micky Young
- Jack Smales
- Sep Visser
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