NEWCASTLE Falcons' Mathew Tait was yesterday named in the 15-man England Sevens squad for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

They will leave on Sunday, with the competition scheduled for March 16 and 17 in the Telstra Stadium, where all 55,000 tickets have already been sold for the second day.

Tait, who was 20 last month, will miss only one Falcons match, away to Bath on Saturday week. He has already taken part in sevens tournaments in Dubai, South Africa, New Zealand and Los Angeles this season.

He said: "It's fantastic to be involved in such a great event and to have the chance to win a medal with my country. The Sevens will be huge and to play in an atmosphere like that will be amazing."

Also in the squad is Tait's former Newcastle team-mate Ben Gollings, who now plays club rugby in Australia, who will be one of England's opponents in the group stages, along with the Cook Islands and Sri Lanka.

The Falcons announced yesterday that they broke all commercial records with their 10,200 capacity crowd for Friday night's match against Leicester.

More than 1,000 people took advantage of the corporate packages in Kingston Park's five restaurants, while over 21,000 pints were sold, 4,000 more than in the previous Friday match against London Irish.

Commercial Director Mick Hogan said: "The feedback from supporters, corporate guests and sponsors on the whole Friday night experience has been overwhelmingly positive. We will still continue to play the majority of games on Sundays but fans can expect to see more Friday night rugby."

Newcastle's two senior hookers, Andy Long and Matt Thompson, have both signed new two-year contracts.

Long, 28, who won two England caps while with Bath, said: "The squad is developing a greater presence up front now, which makes the next two years really exciting.

"The coaching philosophy and the quality of personnel at the club means this is a place where players want to come and to be part of it for two more years will be a great privilege."

* Newcastle Academy player Tim Visser, who was sent off for dangerous play when appearing for Darlington Mowden Park against Cleckheaton, has received a five-week ban at an RFU disciplinary hearing. But as Mowden had already suspended him for a month, he will be available to play after next weekend.

* Italy rugby chief Giancarlo Dondi has demanded the Azzurri ''battle to the death'' when they take on Wales in their next RBS 6 Nations Championship outing as they go in search of a first win in this year's competition.

Dondi was left deflated by Italy's second-half showing against France at the weekend when they surrendered a 12-8 half-time lead to lose 37-12.

That defeat followed a similar pattern to Italy's opening two Six Nations matches, where they led against both Ireland and England in the early stages of the second period before running out of steam and ending up empty-handed.

Italy are still receiving plaudits for their performances so far but Dondi believes the time has come for the Azzurri to take things to another level when they meet Wales at the Millennium Stadium on March 11.

''Certainly now we are going to Cardiff to battle them to the death. I want to see a team capable of making the most of the situation,'' Dondi, the president of the Italian Rugby Federation, said.

''If the Welsh win and deserve it, all the best to them, but we must go and show a great display of rugby, like we did in the first two games. No, sorry, I want even better than that, the team now need to show the best they have.

''In rugby there are no excuses, if you play well, everybody will say you are a good team, even if you lose games. But if you play badly, whatever you did before it doesn't matter anymore,'' he added.