ENGLAND FINISH FOURTH AT HSBC LONDON SEVENS
England finished fourth at the HSBC London Sevens after losing 19-21 to Ireland at Twickenham Stadium.
Earlier on day two, England beat Australia 21-17 but were unable to overcome South Africa in the semi-final as they won 19-29.
On day one in the pool stages, England beat France 34-0, went down 14-31 to the USA before finishing with a 38-12 win against Kenya.
England will now travel to the final leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Paris next weekend.
It was a fast start by Ireland in England’s final game as Jordon Conroy raced down the right wing to give them the lead.
England were pressing on the Irish try line but a loose ball was picked up by Conroy as he sprinted away for his second.
Ryan Olowofela’s footwork set up Dan Bibby as England got themselves into the game before Bibby’s second out wide made it 12-14 to Ireland at half-time.
After Ethan Waddleton’s initial break, two phases later Dan Norton was over on the left wing but Conroy’s hat-trick levelled the game with the successful conversion giving Ireland the narrow win by two points.
In the semi-final England had to withstand a number of South African attacks in the opening minutes before Werner Kok eventually gave them the lead.
Harry Glover’s break and offload to Phil Burgess got England level before Philip Snyman’s try put the Blitzboks ahead at half-time.
Seabelo Senatla’s score gave South Africa a 10-point lead, before Alex Davis’ strength set up Burgess to run in for his second.
However, tries from Stedman Hans and Justin Geduld wrapped the game up for South Africa before Dan Norton added a consolation score.
Facing an Australia side who topped their pool in the quarter-final, England took the lead when Mike Ellery kicked the ball forward and gathered the bouncing ball to dot down under the posts – England’s 3,000th try on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Australia responded immediately when Lachlan Anderson crossed and Maurice Longbottom went over at half-time as they led 7-12.
Dan Norton’s sixth try of the weekend got England back in the game.
A chip and chase from Alex Davis grabbed England the lead and while a Ben O’Donnell try for Australia made for a tight finish, England held on.
Commenting at the end of day two, Head of England Sevens Simon Amor, said: “It was incredibly frustrating as there were some times when we really got some great rugby played together – we attacked well, we defended well but there were also times we really got it quite wrong.
“That just shows where we’re at with our group with some young guys coming in, some guys coming back from injury, so the key for us is to work really hard in the next five days to get that consistency of that group training and working hard together, and really pushing on and giving it our best in Paris.
“Ireland are a really, really good team as people will have seen here today – to beat a number of the World Series teams is a real testament to the talent they have there.
“It was an unbelievable atmosphere and obviously we’re disappointed we couldn’t get ourselves on the podium for the crowd but thanks to the fans for their support.”
England Sevens squad for HSBC London Sevens:
Dan Bibby
Phil Burgess
Alex Davis
Mike Ellery
Harry Glover
Charlie Hayter
Ollie Lindsay-Hague
Tom Mitchell
Dan Norton
Ryan Olowofela
James Rodwell
Ethan Waddleton
13th man: Tom Bowen
England’s fixtures:
England 34-0 France
Tries: Alex Davis, Dan Norton (2), Ollie Lindsay-Hague (3)
England 14-31 USA
Tries: Dan Norton (2)
England 38-12 Kenya
Tries: Ollie Lindsay-Hague (2), Dan Norton, Mike Ellery (2), Charlie Hayter
Cup quarter-final: England 21-17 Australia
Tries: Mike Ellery, Dan Norton, Alex Davis
Cup semi-final: England 19-29 South Africa
Tries: Phil Burgess (2), Dan Norton
Bronze final: England 19-21 Ireland
Tries: Dan Norton (2), Dan Bibby
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