With the Hong Kong Sevens kicking off this Friday, IRN caught up with two rising English stars, Worcester’s Matt Cox and London Irish’s John Fisher, who are about to make their bows in the world’s biggest Sevens tournament.

How have you found Hong Kong so far boys?
Matt Cox: Apart from the jet lag it’s quite a nice little place. I’ve been to Dubai and it reminds me a lot of there with all the skyscrapers and stuff. I quite like it. We’ve been down to the markets for a few bartering sessions with a few guys which is good fun. They are very good if you want to buy gadgets.
John Fisher: It’s been quite tough, we’ve had a lot of practice matches but I’ve been through the market as well, trying to get the cheap watches. We travel by ferry to training as well which gives us a chance to see the sights.

Oh yeah, about the rugby, how have the preparations gone?
MC: We had friendlies against New Zealand and Australia, although you can’t really call them friendlies. We played Wales as well. It was supposed to be a touch game but then it became England v Wales and it was full contact! There are quite a few players in the squad who haven’t really played sevens before so the more we play the better we are getting.

Who’s in your group this year?
JF: We play Canada on Friday then Sri Lanka and Samoa both on Saturday. Samoa will be the toughest side but Canada will be very physical as well. These days there are no easy teams. In 15s you expect there to be a much bigger gap between the top sides and the others, but that’s not there in 7s. All the teams have got 12 athletes who can throw the ball around and there’s not much between them.

Players on the Sevens circuit spend a lot of time on the road, so it must be important to have a good hotel room mate, who are yours?
MC: James Collins, another Worcester boy. He’s got a lot of nasty habits. I’d love to tell you some of them but I don’t think you could print them. It would just be nice if he didn’t throw his clothes around the room so much.
JF: I’m with our captain Andy Vilk, so obviously he bores me with stories of all his recent wins in Hong Kong (England won four straight Hong Kong tournaments between 2003 and 2006). He’s massively messy and he’s always trying to get me to do sit ups, he’s a bit of a fitness freak.

There have been plenty of players come up through the Sevens route and go on to greater things, who are your rugby heroes?
MC: As a flanker I learn a lot from the guys like Pat Sanderson at Worcester. He’s played a lot of Sevens and he’s a pretty good guy to learn off. My academy coaches were also a big influence on me -Andrew Stanley and Gary Meechan. Andrew was a flanker for Gloucester in his day so he is on the same wave length and he’s good for one on one sessions.
JF: Lawrence Dallaglio. Just for the way he leads the team. He came through sevens as well and you look at guys like him who used it as a stepping stone. It’s all about making sure now that you’re one of those guys who goes from here on to bigger things.

What about outside of rugby, any other sportsmen you admire?
MC: I was a Mike Tyson fan in his day, not post all his problems! Pre his first wife I think he was a guy on top of his game and well respected in the ring.
JF: The NFL guys are the leading athletes in the world, Reggie Bush and those sorts of guys. Get them on a rugby pitch and they would be something else. It’s scary to think what the USA team would be like in about 20-30 years. All they need is the funding.

Tap and Go loves a good prank story, any you can share with us?
MC: A few go on in the hotels. During the last Under 19s World Cup a group of us taped all of one of the guys’ belongings to the ceiling and the walls - his t-shirts, toothpaste, toothbrush. The physio wasn’t too happy with us when we ran out of tape on that trip, we had to get some more sent through because we’d used it all messing around.
Another good one was using it tie opposite door handles together in the corridor so you couldn’t get out either side. They’re pretty well thought up but you always have to face a good rollocking afterwards. Cling film round the toilet seats is another good one. I’ve also had all my stuff wrapped up in cling film as well. It took ten minutes to get one item out. I was cursing a few people when it was the middle of the night and you just want to go to bed.

OK, say you win the Hong Kong Sevens this weekend and Tap and Go is waiting for you in the bar to celebrate, what’s your poison?
MC: Are the coaches around?

No, they’ve gone home to bed
MC: Probably a lager and a chaser to get started with then!
JF: Diet Coke, I live for it.

Very sensible, John. Being the generous sort, Tap and Go is also offering you the chance to invite your three dream guests round for dinner, who’s coming?
MC: I would go for Lee Evans, Sharon Osbourne and probably Roman Abramovich.
I reckon a conversation with Sharon Osbourne would be pretty interesting, she’d be pretty up front and funny on a night out. Lee Evans for the comedy and Abramovich to pay for everything. Oh and Jessica Alba, she’d be the one to take home afterwards. (Tap and Go is willing to let Jessica in as an extra guest, provided she does the washing up.)
JF: I’d probably treat myself and go with Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba and probably Ben Youngs, one of the other boys here just so I’m not being greedy and we could share it about a bit.

But Matt’s already invited her, how would you get her off him?
JF: I reckon I’d back myself, to be honest. He’s only 98kgs at the moment so he’s not really too hard.

Well, no scrapping before the weekend, good to speak to you, best of luck out there.
MC: No problem mate
JF: Cheers

Matt Cox and Jon Fisher will be playing for England in the Emirates Airlines London Sevens at Twickenham on the 24th and 25th May 2008, bank holiday weekend. For tournament information and the ultimate VIP rugby prize, check out www.londonsevens.co.uk. Tickets starting at just £10 are available via the website or Ticketmaster: 0870 902 000.