England Sevens finish sixth at Mitsubishi Motors Exeter 7s
England finished sixth at the Mitsubishi Motors Exeter 7s in what was the final leg of the Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series.
The young side were beaten 17-12 by Georgia in the fifth-place final having earlier defeated Germany.
Their day started with a loss to Ireland in the Cup quarter-final.
England began brightly with Alex Davis scoring their first try, finishing off a fine team move which Will Edwards converted for 7-0.
Ireland then scored in first-half injury time before powering through a couple of tackles to barge over for a second score after the break.
A third followed soon after and then in stoppage time Ireland had a fourth to seal a 24-7 victory.
England next faced Germany and secured a four-try victory.
They made a strong start with Jordon Ainslie breaking through in the opening minute before Edwards seared through, also converting his try for 14-0.
Mason Tonks continued his fine tournament with another converted try and although Germany crossed before the break England led 21-7.
Edwards scored a second try and kicked a fourth conversion to seal victory, also taking his personal points tally in the game to 18.
Their meeting with Georgia started disappointingly with an early try conceded after a handling error before Ainslie levelled with a score in the corner.
Crucially Georgia scored just before the break to lead 12-5 and despite Ryan Olowofela’s try levelling the game, England’s opponents scored in second-half injury time to win the match.
Commenting on the side’s performance, England Sevens assistant coach Tony Roques who led the team this weekend, said: “We started off strong against Ireland but made some silly errors which led to them scoring a few late tries. They’re a very good side so knowing that we can challenge teams of their standard gave the boys confidence to build on going into the next games.
“We scored some good tries against Germany but unfortunately we just couldn’t quite finish off against Georgia; they’re a strong team and made us pay.
“I’m really pleased with this group of players and how they’ve conducted themselves both on and off the field for the entire weekend.
“Attitude is everything and when the boys put on an England shirt that’s what we expect them to show.
“This weekend has been a great test of seeing where these players are at currently and where they’ve got to get to if they want to get into the HSBC World Sevens Series squad.
“It’s not until you’re put up against tough competition like these European teams that you realise how much there is to build on and improve. This has been a huge learning curve for the team and I’m really proud of them.”
England Sevens squad for the Mitsubishi Motors Exeter 7s:
George Chatterton
Mason Tonks
Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas
Charlie Kingham
Alex Davis ©
Jordan Ainslie
Will Edwards
Tom Ffitch
Harry Glover
Ryan Olowofela
Henry Martin
Callum Sirker
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