England's record-breaking sevens forward James Rodwell is targeting a strong finish to the season to gain momentum for next term.
Record-breaking forward looks to finish season on a high
England's record-breaking forward James Rodwell is targeting a strong finish to the Sevens season to gain momentum for next term.
The 27 year-old heads into this weekend's Glasgow Sevens - his 33rd consecutive HSBC Sevens World Series tournament - fourth on England's all-time appearance list.
He overtook Richard Haughton (31) last month in Tokyo with three more backs - Rob Thirlby (35), Simon Amor (43) and Ben Gollings (70) - ahead of him on the all-time rankings.
Fourth-placed England's campaign this season has seen a title triumph in Dubai followed by agonising exits at the hands of New Zealand in Wellington and Las Vegas, when wins would have put them on top of the table in the nine-event series.
The former Worcester Warriors and Moseley forward is aiming for England to lay down a marker for next season and prove they will be title contenders in the HSBC Sevens World Series as well as for the World Cup Sevens tournament in Moscow next summer.
Momentum
He said: "We've had an okay year. It's not what we set out to do because we had the goal of winning the series but a couple of close games have got in the way.
"In all the tournaments bar one we've been knocked out by a score or less which shows how close the games are and how close we could have been this season but unfortunately we're now sitting in fourth place.
"We want to finish the season on a high to show we haven't set that unrealistic a target of winning the series. We can show we're there or thereabouts so we can get some momentum going into next season.
"That starts in Glasgow and then we go into London and the Marriott London Sevens where it'll be incredible to finish on a high at our home venue."
Rodwell's first sighting in England colours was in Edinburgh in 2008 but he didn't get onto the pitch until the Dubai tournament later that year.
Since then he has appeared in all bar a handful of around 150 games England have played - all the more remarkable given his position as a forward who is the side's lineout and restart specialist.
"He's our most-capped forward of all time and that's a testament to his professionalism and the way he's kept himself fit and in form for so long," said England Sevens head coach Ben Ryan.
"He's only in his mid-20s so there's more to come too."