England Sevens star scoops top award

Gloucester's Simon Amor has won the prestigious IRB Sevens Player of the Year award at the IRB Awards ceremony in London for his crucial role in the England Sevens team's success last season.

The 25-year-old scrum-half beat his England team mate Ben Gollings and Argentina's Lucio Lopez Fleming to the prize which was chosen by a panel comprising former internationals including John Eales, Francois Pienaar and Rob Andrew.

Amor captained the England Sevens team to a second place finish in the IRB Sevens series which saw them win three tournaments including a third successive victory in Hong Kong. 
 
Simon, who has recently been named as England Sevens captain for the third successive season, was understandably delighted to win the award.

"I am absolutely thrilled to have won this award, particularly as it is chosen by such a distinguished panel," he said.

"There are so many other great Sevens players on the circuit at the moment that this is a genuine honour. I would like to thank everyone involved with England Sevens and wish everyone good luck with this year's IRB Sevens."
 
England Sevens coach Mike Friday congratulated his skipper, referring to him as one the 'greats'.

"The award was very well deserved in the light of Simon's commitment to England Sevens over the past five years," said Friday.

"Simon continues to set extremely high standards for his fellow players with intelligent play, making him one of the greatest modern sevens players in the world."
 
Amor leads England in the opening tournament of the IRB Sevens later this week at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens which begin on Thursday.