After securing a bronze medal finish in Malaga last weekend, newly appointed England rugby 7s captain Alex Davis discusses the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Four years after winning bronze in the games held on the Queensland Gold Coast, Alex Davis is hopeful his inexperienced side can continue to surprise as they seek another podium place.
Having seen a mass exodus of senior players post-Tokyo Olympics, the national side were expected to wallow in a state of transition but instead exploded out of the blocks with an unexpected third place on the Spanish south coast.
Davis, 29, believes there are a lot of reasons to be excited by his new-look team and pointed towards their no fear approach, in part due to the ‘youthful enthusiasm’.
The skipper believes that playing in Birmingham should give his team greater impetus to succeed, and possibly overachieve.
He will rely on his previous experience of multi-sport events (2018 Commonwealth Games & Tokyo 2020) to help guide some of the new crop but is excited to see how his side reacts to the environment and the pressure of playing in front of a home crowd.
Watch out for ‘plenty more surprises to come’ in the summer.
Word count – 201
