England Sevens beaten by New Zealand in Hong Kong
England Sevens were defeated 21-7 by New Zealand in the fifth-place semi-final as their Hong Kong sevens tournament ended in disappointment.
Having earlier lost 27-7 to the United States in the Cup quarter-final they were later knocked out of the tournament by New Zealand.
England is third in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series with three tournaments remaining.
Dan Norton said: “We’re frustrated and disappointed because we know we can play a lot better than that and we weren’t able to show how good we can actually be.
“Off the back of a successful tournament in Vancouver we were aiming to replicate that form but for all our own faults we didn’t get there. We always want to give it our all for England but we lacked accuracy at times and when you’re playing against the top teams you get found out.
“At the same time though we are a strong group and are looking forward to getting back out there in Singapore. We’ve got time now to regroup and reassess. Next week is an opportunity to do better for our country and there’s still three tournaments left to play.”
England trailed 14-0 at the break following two tries from Joe Ravouvou who flew down the left wing after only a minute for the first converted try and then cut a fine line through the England midfield for his second.
Ollie Lindsay-Hague scored a superb individual try throwing a dummy and stepping inside before outpacing New Zealand with Dan Bibby converting but soon after Sione Molia then handed off the tackle of Bibby to break England’s defensive line and dot down under the posts for 21-7.
New Zealand lost Andrew Knewstubb to the sin bin as Callum Sirker came on to make his England Sevens debut but they could not take advantage.
England was without James Rodwell (illness) and lost Tom Mitchell (foot) following the quarter-final with the USA. Further assessment will be required for Phil Burgess (knee) while Charlton Kerr (knee) and Ethan Waddleton (shoulder) were injured during the New Zealand match.
Head Coach Simon Amor said: “It’s been a hugely frustrating weekend. We didn’t get our game going which is particularly disappointing coming off the win in Vancouver but that’s sevens. After having a settled squad all season we’ve picked up a number of injuries over the weekend which is a real challenge for us. We’ll look at our options and will need to respond with resilience heading into Singapore.”
England started well against the US and after Burgess had handed off two defenders, Mitchell darted through a gap to cross and then convert, giving them a 7-0 lead.
The captain then made a covering tackle as the US hit back but Madison Hughes scored on the following play to make it 5-7.
The United States capitalised on unfortunate errors, with Perry Baker stealing the ball to race in for his first try. The half time hooter sounded as Richard de Carpentier made a charging run to put England on the front foot but Stephen Tomasin was there to gather when the ball later spilt loose and he extended the US’s lead to 15-7.
After the break a US turnover allowed Ben Pinkelman to go over in the corner for his side’s fourth try.
With five minutes left England remained in possession, working to create the crucial scores, but the US defence held firm and it was game over when Hughes was the first to gather another loose ball and run the length of the field to take it to 27-7, knocking England out of the Cup.
England Sevens Squad for Hong Kong: Dan Bibby, Tom Bowen, Phil Burgess, Richard de Carpentier, Charlie Hayter, Charlton Kerr, Ollie Lindsay-Hague, Ruaridh McConnochie, Tom Mitchell ©, Dan Norton, James Rodwell, Ethan Waddleton (Callum Sirker – 13th man).
Fifth place semi-final:
England 7-21 New Zealand
Try: Lindsay-Hague
Conversion: Bibby
Cup quarter-final:
USA 27-7 England
Try: Mitchell
Conversion: Mitchell
England’s pool A results:
South Korea 52-0 England
Tries: Lindsay-Hague (2), Bowen, Kerr (2), Norton, Hayter, Mitchell / Conversions: Bibby (4), Mitchell (2)
England 12-10 Samoa
Tries: Bibby, Norton / Conversion: Mitchell
England 10 -12 Australia
Tries: Bowen (2)
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