England beat France and Australia on day three of USA Sevens
ENGLAND finished fifth at the USA Sevens in Las Vegas after beating France 21-12 and Australia 26-24 to win the Plate title.
The result earned Simon Amor’s side 13 series points and leaves them fourth in the overall standings behind South Africa, New Zealand and Fiji.
Captain Tom Mitchell finished the three day tournament with 44 points and leads the series rankings with 156 from four events of the HSBC Sevens World Series as the teams prepare for the next leg in Wellington (February 7-8).
England, who were knocked out of the quarter finals 24-7 by New Zealand, dominated both day three matches at the Sam Boyd Stadium.
Mitchell, Dan Bibby and Marcus Watson scored tries against France with Mitchell converting all three. Stephen Parez and Julian Candelon replied in the second half.
They were held level at 12-12 by Australia in the Plate final – Mitchell and Jeff Williams touching down – and Mike Ellery and Marcus Watson struck early in the second half to make sure despite a late reply from Shannon Walker.
South Africa went on to lift a third USA Sevens title in five years, beating New Zealand 14-7 in a physical final with tries from Branco du Preez and Werner Kok.
On the opening two days England had been beaten 22-19 by Samoa before Pool C victories over Portugal (54-0) and Uruguay (43-5).
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