England Sevens finish sixth in Poland
England secured sixth place after losing out to Germany by three points in their final game of the second leg of the 2017 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, held in Lodz, Poland at the weekend.
With three successive tries from Callum Sirker, Yaree Fantini and Will Glover in the first half, England were off to a strong start. Mason Tonks earned England their fourth try just moments into the second half but Germany fought back with four tries, defeating England 29-26.
England found themselves competing for fifth place after opening up the second day of the tournament with a 14-point loss to winners of last weekend’s Moscow Sevens, Ireland. In their second game of the day, England clinched a 22-12 win over Georgia before facing Germany.
“It’s been a great weekend for the boys; they came back from ninth place position in Moscow and have worked extremely hard to get that fixed place finish this week,” England Sevens Academy coach Warren Abrahams said.
“We’re really proud of the squad’s work ethic, attitude and desire and their intent to build on the lessons that they have learned since the last tournament.
“For many in this group this is the first time they’ve ever played back-to-back tournaments, so for them to go out there and play three extremely tough games two days in a row has been a real challenge for them.”
England’s side for the weekend’s competition was made up of a combination of talent from the England Sevens Academy, Premiership academy, and universities program, with England Sevens head coach Simon Amor citing the tournament as an opportunity to identify the next generation of talent to come through the England Sevens pathway.
Day one of the Poland Sevens saw England finish third in their pool following a win against Italy and two defeats to Russia and Wales.
Looking ahead to the third round of the 2017 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, Abrahams added: “This is an exciting young group, so the most important thing as we prepare for Clermont is that we consistently apply what we’ve learned to a high level from game to game. If we get that right then we’ll get ourselves in an even better position for the last two tournaments of this competition.”
England Sevens squad for Lodz, Poland:
Cameron Cowell
Callum Sirker
Jordan Ainslie
Henry Martin
Tom Ffitch
Will Glover
Harry Glover
Charlie Kingham (Loughborough University)
Will Wilson (University of Oxford)
Yaree Fantini (Northumbria University)
Mason Tonks (Gloucester)
Ryan Olowofela (Leicester Tigers)
Stages three and four of the Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series will take place as follows:
Stage 3: Clermont-Ferrand (France – Comité d’Auvergne), 1-2 July
Stage 4: Mitsubishi Motors Exeter 7s (England), 15-16 July
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