The pre-tournament news conference ahead of the Dubai Rugby Sevens weekend had the surreal feel of a time warp on Wednesday.
On the top table, Simon Amor traded jokes with the event’s top brass, he passed the microphone around as if he was running this shindig, and generally exuded confidence about his England side’s chances.
It was like he had never been away. Did the past seven years really happen? It felt like just last week when he had been doing the same thing, albeit in a different venue, as England captain.
The Crowne Plaza in Festival City, where the media briefing was taking place, did not exist the last time he was here in an official capacity with England. Yet he looks no different and acts with no less authority.
And then a nod to the passing of time. “You have a few more grey hairs now,” suggested Gary Chapman, who has long been one of the main figures of the tournament’s administration.
It was an assertion Amor was happy to contest. Which was another reminder of the past.
He has never been one for turning, never shied from a fight despite his short stature.
As a feisty playmaker in the England sevens side of the mid-noughties, he won successive Dubai titles, in 2004 and 2005, and was the first player to earn the status of IRB world sevens player of the year.
Now he is back in the city in a role which seems built for him. Suffice to say, he has no concerns over being the new kid on the World Series coaching block.
“My ambition when I stopped playing was to eventually coach the England sevens team,” said the former Gloucester scrum-half.
“At first, I stepped away from the game. I coached the England women for a while and for the past few years I have been director of rugby at London Scottish in the Championship, which is a tough, competitive environment.
“There were a lot of challenges there in terms of changes from a part-time to a full-time structure, before you even work on coaching, leadership and management skills.”
In terms of being ready for the England sevens coaching role, “it was advertised and I thought now was as good a time as ever”.
Amor’s demeanour as a general on the field always did hint at the fact a career in coaching might lay ahead of him.
According to Ben Ryan, the man Amor replaced as England coach before the start of this season, it was as good as written that he would succeed him one day.
“As a captain he had very solid views on the way the game should be played that he doesn’t waver from and he has taken that through as coach,” said Ryan, who is now Fiji’s coach. “He is sure about what he wants and how he wants to achieve it. When he left us, left professional rugby and went into coaching, I thought he would be someone who would eventually replace me as England coach.”
Amor says he is trying to “evolve” Ryan’s plans for the England side, rather than reinvent them, while Tom Powell, the captain, says the new man’s ideas are already taking effect.
“Simon has a wealth of experience from his playing history with the sevens team,” Powell said.
“He knows exactly what he wants. Our defensive system is probably the biggest change we have had.
“We tweak it now each game and make sure it fits with the opposition rather than just sticking to one style the whole time.
“We have done a lot more contact in training so the boys are more physically prepared for what the weekend brings.
“It is hard playing six games back to back and it takes its toll on the body, but hopefully the training will stand us in good stead for that.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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