Samurai Bulldogs name squad for first dip in the Elite water

The Samurai Bulldogs have named their squad for this weekend’s Summer Social 7s at Richmond RFC.

The Bulldogs have won all three of their tournaments so far this season but face a tough challenge on Saturday as they step into the Elite category for the first time at what was formerly known as Rugby Rocks 7s.

The Bulldogs victories include the Sunshine 7s at East Grinstead, the Greene King IPA 7s at Bury St Edmunds, and last weekend’s UR7s U18 7s at Newbury RFC.

This ought to be their toughest challenge to date though, however the Bulldogs have stuck to their same positive and youthful selection process by selecting nine current schoolboys in their squad of twelve as they look to continue that form.

They have certainly looked to bulk up the squad a bit though with the likes of Millfield’s Alex Coombes, Bristol’s Ellis Genge, Bedford School star Ollie Lyons, and Hartpury’s Taraiasi Wara all adding plenty of power to the squad.

Also coming into the squad is Cardiff University’s Tommy O’Flaherty. O’Flaherty has been an important player for the Bulldogs but was absent for them last week as he was promoted to the senior Samurai side, the Barracudas, for the GB7s Series opener.

His experience will be vital, as will that of some of this season’s schoolboy Bulldog stalwarts, Dulwich College’s Ali Neden, Tonbridge’s Will Weston, St Benedict’s Michael Ledger and Epsom College’s Charlie Dockery.

Bedford’s Dan Lewis joins his schoolmate Ollie Lyons for his second Bulldogs appearance of the season after playing at Newbury last weekend, while Dockery’s Epsom College teammate Cian Barry joins Langley Park’s George Baker in making their first Samurai Bulldogs appearances of the season.

The Elite tournament for the Summer Social 7s is split into four groups of three, and the Bulldogs are placed in Group B alongside Redingensians RFC and the Wooden Spoon Marauders.

It will certainly be a tough tournament for the Bulldogs, the other group sinclude the likes of Richmond RFC, the Serious Stuff Pups, Esher RFC, Loughborough Students, and the Apache Raiders to name just a few. However given their utter domination of the Open scene so far this season, it is not too far fetched to expect a very strong performance indeed from the Bulldogs this weekend.

Samurai Bulldogs Squad:

Cian Barry – Epsom College

George Baker – Langley Park

Alex Coombes – Millfield

Charlie Dockery – Epsom College

Ellis Genge – Bristol RFC

Michael Ledger – St Benedict’s

Dan Lewis – St Joseph’s College

Ollie Lyons – Bedford

Ali Neden – Dulwich College

Tommy O’Flaherty – Cardiff University

Taraiasi Wara – Hartpury RFC

Will Weston – Tonbridge