Speaking from Rome he said: "Both Tim and Ollie are pretty good sevens players and I will definitely not be letting Ollie go around me on the pitch tomorrow.  Samurai in theory have a stronger side than their team so I am pretty confident we will beat them and then I will enjoy gloating!"

Rudd began his sevens career aged 18 when he played England Sevens before joining London Wasps.  He says: "Sevens definitely helped me as a player and I believe my time with the England Sevens team not only improved my skills and confidence but helped get me noticed by the likes of Wasps."

He has played in the Middlesex Sevens several times and enjoys the freedom and speed of sevens, although he admits "the fitness element is always tough with sevens and however fit you are it is always a shock when you get onto the sevens pitch." 

John played for Samurai in the Amsterdam Sevens in May - a tournament the Samurai won for a third successive year.  He said: "It was great fun playing in Amsterdam.  It was my first invitational sevens tournament for about four years but they are always enjoyable, relaxing and satisfying to win."

Samurai have won the Roma Sevens twice before and will be looking for another victory this weekend.  Alongside Rudd in the Samurai team are England Sevens regular Rob Thirlby (Redruth) and former England Sevens player Will Mathews (Pertemps Bees). 

The tournament is played over one day (tomorrow) enabling Rudd to enjoy some sightseeing before returning to Newcastle on Monday.  He said: "I have never been to Rome before so I am looking forward to the next few days.  Playing in this heat isn,t a problem although I do have quite fair skin!"

This will be Rudd,s last sevens tournament before getting back into preseason training with the Falcons.  "Newcastle are pretty supportive of us playing sevens during the off season so long as we don,t play too much and look after ourselves.  I am looking forward to meeting the other boys on the pitch tomorrow and then hopefully enjoying a beer with them after the final."