SEVENS star Ryan Travers insists his Lions side can hold their heads up high despite falling just short of the inaugural 24/Sevens national final.

Lions headed to Saracens' Allianz Park on Sunday for the South East play-offs having enjoyed success at the Sunshine 7s, one of 32 local qualifier tournaments earlier this summer.

Run by England Rugby, 24/Sevens is an exciting new community sevens series that aims to grow rugby and increase participation among men and women in clubs.

The winners of the regional play-offs now progress to the showpiece national grand final event which will be held on July 24, hosted by England Rugby back at Allianz Park.

And while the Lions were unable to book their name at the final in north London, Travers believes there were still plenty of encouraging signs from his team.

“We had a rusty start but got the hang of things pretty quickly, came back stronger and finished in the as runners-up in the plate,” he said. “We’ve spent the whole season together and won a tournament together in Tobago so it’s capping off that.

“It’s quite nice to get on the pitch, it’s good having the music afterwards to have a bit of a jig too and everyone’s having a lot of fun. That social element to the rugby is massively important, making sure it doesn’t just feel like it’s a stressful competition and that you can have a good time too.”

Next month rugby sevens will make its Olympic Games debut in Rio with Team GB sending both a men’s and women’s team.

There was plenty of talent on show at Saracens on Sunday to suggest that rugby sevens is strong across the country at all levels of the game.

And while their 24/Sevens journey may have come to an end this time around for the Lions, Travers was already looking forward to seeing the team grow going forwards.

“The 24/Sevens is fantastic, you get to network really well and it’s something you can’t really get anywhere else,” he added. “I’ve definitely become a sevens convert, I’ve always been on the small side but now I can have a bigger impact.

“Sevens in the Olympics is going to be huge; I went out to Majorca and in Spain it’s getting bigger as it is all over the world and it’s great to be at the heart of that at the time where it seems to be growing quicker than ever.

“We’re gutted to miss out on Nationals, but there are some incredible teams around and we didn’t quite have enough to beat them this time.”

England Rugby 24/Sevens, a new exciting grassroots sevens competition for all rugby teams, welcoming anyone who just wants to pick up a ball and run, for fun or glory. Visit www.englandrugby.com/24sevens to get involved.