By Chris Bailey

Sevens boss Ben Ryan is backing England to dominate on the international stage after witnessing firsthand the emergence of Walton-on-Thames’ Marcus Watson at last month’s World Cup.

It is 20 years since Lawrence Dallaglio and Matt Dawson led England to an inaugural 7s World Cup win at Murrayfield – an achievement so nearly matched in Russia last month by Watson.

Ryan’s side were only beaten in the final by New Zealand but with a host of half-backs – Watson, Tom Mitchell and Christian Lewis-Pratt – still in their early 20s the future looks very bright indeed for England.

Watson passed through the international ranks while at St George’s College and played on the wing for London Irish Academy and England at U16 to U20 level, going to the Junior World Championship in 2010.

And with a hugely exciting three years ahead of him – the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 – Ryan is expecting even more from his young pretender.

“There is more to come from this team, the important players, and the half-backs who make the decisions are very young – Marcus Watson is outstanding,” said Ryan, who will be watching this summer’s JP Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s Series in the hope of adding to his squad.

“Marcus, Christian Lewis-Pratt, Tom Mitchell – these are guys that are crucial players and are all around 22 and are staying together.

This is a side that still have a lot of growing to do in the international game which is a very tough environment these days – but in Marcus we have some real talent.

“You cannot be off your game for a second if you want to win tournaments at the world level, World Cups and Commonwealth titles. Making a World Cup final is a great thing and our first for 20 years so we are very pleased.

“In the final we were beaten by the better side, the conditions were pretty terrible and we didn’t make the decisions that we spoke about at the start of the game.

“We’re the best side in Europe, the northern hemisphere, and since February we have been a young squad that are right up there with the best teams in the world.

"If this had been the Olympics then we would have got the silver medal – that’s a fantastic achievement.”

For the 2016 Olympic Games; England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will all come together to form a 7s equivalent of the Lions under the Team GB umbrella.

Ryan admits plenty of obstacles still need to be overcome in order to get to that stage but he is positive Team GB will be represented in Brazil.

“Obviously there are issues that need to be sorted out that are over my head at board level but hopefully that will be resolved soon enough,” added Ryan.

“The home nations will get together to hammer out some sort of agreement. The Welsh side are very strong at the moment and with a Scotland team competing at the highest level there is a lot of strength there and it would be a team that all the countries would be wary of.

“Like the other head coaches, I want the strongest home nation’s side representing us at the Olympics and we will have to see what decision is reached.”

The final of J.P Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s will be at The Recreation Ground, the home of Bath Rugby, on Friday 9 August. For tickets and more information visit: www.jpmorgan7s.com or follow @jpmorganrugby7s