Ben Gollings expects some of his England sevens team-mates to represent the 15-a-side team in the near future.
Gollings, the leading points-scorer in the history of the IRB World Sevens Series – with 1,737 and 35 in Hong Kong this weekend, has established himself as a specialist in the shorter form of the game.
But the 27-year-old, who has led a journeyman existence in club rugby with spells at Harlequins, Newcastle and Worcester, anticipates his young colleagues will not remain on the circuit for long.
“There’s a good bunch of boys here and I think they can go a long way,” said Gollings, who now plays in Australia for Sunnybank.
“They are still young and they’ve got a lot of development to do, but there’s no reason why they can’t play for the full side.
“If they can prove it out here, they can step up to the international stage at the top level and I think there are players out here who are capable of doing that.”
England fielded five of the Grand Slam-winning under-20s team in Hong Kong as they suffered a cup quarter-final elimination to defending champions Samoa.
The 17-12 defeat ended hopes of a fifth Hong Kong title in seven years.
Despite the early exit, Gollings is confident of an improved performance in the next event in Adelaide next week and vowed to return to Hong Kong in 2009 to reclaim the trophy.
“It’s not easy playing in Hong Kong, it’s massive and the boys have done exceptionally well,” he added. “Let’s hope the boys stay confident and we can build on it and get a bit of momentum.
“The young boys have really stepped up and hopefully next week we can go one better. We’re going to fly on with the same squad and hopefully build.
“It has been a tremendous tournament. It’s frustrating for our fans, who have been awesome, that we couldn’t go any further, but we’ll be back next year to try and lift that trophy.”
Coach Ben Ryan agreed with Gollings’ assessment. “English rugby is superbly strong,” he said.
“We’ve got guys that won’t necessarily become legends on the sevens circuit but they’ll be pulling on full senior vests for England and in World Cups and that’s my job. Hopefully you’ll see a strong England side again next year.”
Samoa were defeated by South Africa in the last four and the Springboks fell 26-12 to New Zealand in the final.
The All Blacks claimed a first Hong Kong title since 2001, extending their record winning run to 42 matches and claiming victory in a seventh straight IRB World Sevens Series event in the process.
France, winners of the plate in 2000, reclaimed the second-tier prize with a 17-14 sudden-death victory over Argentina, while defending bowl champions Russia retained their title in a 19-14 win against Zimbabwe.
