ENGLAND rugby star Pat Sanderson hopes to be in 'Sevens heaven' as he embarks on his gold medal quest in the Commonwealth Games tonight.

Sanderson, who grew up in Rossendale, has had to wait eight days since the beginning of the Games to begin his hunt for gold.

Because the rugby sevens is being played at the City of Manchester stadium, they have had to wait until the athletics was completed before their event could start.

But now it is rugby's turn to dominate, with pool games today and tomorrow and the quarter-finals, semis and final on Sunday night.

England face the Cook Islands and minnows Kenya tonight and Samoa tomorrow and are expected to get through to the last eight.

Sanderson, a former player at the local Sale club where his younger brother Alex still remains, admits the opening of the Commonwealth Games was overwhelming.

He did not know what to expect from the arrival of the biggest multi-sport event ever staged in this country but one short walk into the stadium was enough to stir all the emotions in the huge Harlequins back-row.

"We were all really excited before we left for the opening ceremony but none of us were prepared for the reality," he said.

"As someone who grew up around the city, to feel the emotion in the welcome was unbelievable.

"It was such a fantastic feeling it is hard to do it justice. How can anyone not want to be a part of Sevens that?

When you are a youngster you watch the Olympics and wonder what it must be like to become involved. As you grow older, you realise it is generally just a dream.

"I have had a bad time with injuries this season but the chance of being part of the English team in this competition is the one thing that has been driving me on."

Sanderson will have the support of his brother and the rest of his former team-mates for the opening two days of competition, during which time England hope to secure a semi-final berth.

Coach Joe Lydon saw his side put through their paces in warm-up games against Tonga and the Royal Navy last week, which gave him the chance to iron out a few clumsy errors England cannot afford to take into competition.

Having been paired with minnows Kenya and South Sea Island duo Samoa and Cook Islands in the pool stages, England have little margin for error early on, especially in a form of the game which tests its participants to the limit.

"It's a far harder game to play than the 15-man version," said Sanderson.

"You may not get the rucks and the mauls but the tackles are just as hard and the pace is unrelenting. You have to run faster and further than you ever would in 15s.

"You have to keep going until your heart is packing in and your lungs are hanging out.

"There is no hiding place and we have to be ready."

New Zealand and South Africa are seeded to meet in the final, with England ranked just behind.

If they can emerge on top of their group, Lydon's men are likely to face either Australia or Fiji for a place in the semi-finals.

Despite that strength of competition, Sanderson is confident England will mount a prolonged gold medal challenge.

"We are not that far off," he said.

"We have some good players who are confident in each other, and there is a good spirit within the squad.

"But we realise this is virtually a world championship. Any one of five teams can win it and we will have to be at our best."

ROY LAIDLAW will send his Scotland squad into Commonwealth Games sevens action tomorrow night, admitting: "The Scottish public expect us to be competitive."

For Scotland a quarter-final place is a realistic target. They play pool games alongside gold medal favourites New Zealand.