Top Euro 7s sides to do battle

England, Spain, France, Russia, Netherlands, Ukraine, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, Scotland and Walesare all in action this weekend and then again in Marbella in two weeks’ time for the European title.

Six of the teams (England, Spain, France, Russia, Ireland and Netherlands) are also competing at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow next month so will no doubt be using these tournaments to fine tune patterns and indeed finalise the players that they will take to Russia.

The World Cup does in fact make this European series quite difficult to predict, given that it is likely that sides like England, Russia and Netherlands may well use a raft of different faces over the two tournaments to offer a last chance to players to stick their hands up for selection.

ButEnglandwill start as favourites despite their coach Barry Maddocks saying last week that defending the title was not his side’s priority and rather that it was about rotating the team to build their best squad for Moscow.

England indeed have picked arguably theirstrongestside for the first leg in Brive and they lead Pool A which also includes Russia, Portugal, Germany Netherlands and Wales.

Russiaare probably the other heavy hitters in this pool following their outstanding performance in Amsterdam, where they finished third and beat England comfortably in their final game. Russia’s players, many of whom only starting playing rugby two years ago, seem to be peaking at just the right time and it will be fascinating to see how they go in this series.

Netherlandsare coming into the competition smarting from a disappointing showing in their home tournament recently, winning the Bowl but not shining until it was too little too late. They have plenty to prove. It will be the first international outing forWalesin some time whilePortugal and Germanywill be focused on continuing their longer term progression.

The second pool is harder to call withSpainlikely to pick a stronger outfit than the sides we saw recently in London and Amsterdam and whileFranceshowed recently that at full strength they can be a real threat – they will not be so this weekend, having to leave out all of their players from Lille and Montpellier who contest the Top 10 Final this weekend. The priority of the Club 15s game is a marked departure from other nations and it is significant for France as Lille provides five players from the usual training squad, and Montpellier two. It is hardly ideal preparation for the World Cup.

Up against those sides areIreland, a side who are making massive progress in the women’s game and they could well spring a few surprises having won the Plate in their World Series debuts in China earlier this year.  With the right time together and preparation nobody doubts that Ireland could well be pushing for core status next season.

Then there isUkraine, a side who are building very well for the future and who showed well at Amsterdam, winning the second tier of the tournament. With central funding, their target is very much 2016 but they could easily cause some upsets here.

Scotland and Italyare sides who may find the going tough. Scotland have had by their own admission “a brief build-up and the introduction of a number of new players” but they do have some exciting pacey talent in their squad.

1/2 June: European Women's Grand Prix ("Top 12"):

Pool A:Germany, Russia, Portugal, Netherlands, England, Wales

Pool B: Spain, France, Ireland, Scotland, Ukraine, Italy