England Sevens to play in Tokyo quarter finals
Tom Mitchell in action for England Sevens
England are through to the quarter finals of the Tokyo Sevens tomorrow after finishing second in Pool A this morning.
Wins over Wales and Hong Kong ensured England’s progression in the Cup competition but defeat to Fiji, who won their three games, meant the South Pacific side topped the pool.
England started the day well with a comprehensive 33-0 win over Hong Kong. The side was full of running with Marcus Watson and Tom Bowen scoring first half tries for a 12-0 lead before a second half brace from Dan Norton and a try to James Rodwell ensured a comfortable victory.
A closely fought 10-7 win over Wales, who England had beaten in the pool stages last weekend in Hong Kong, secured their second win of the day. England scored all their points in the first half through tries from Dan Bibby and Watson.
In the pool decider against the Hong Kong champions, England struggled to stem the flow of first half points from the Fijians who raced out to an early 26-0 lead. Charlie Hayter got England on the score sheet late in the first half to give Simon Amor’s men a chance going into the second.
But after early pressure from England in the second spell it was Fiji who struck again, this time a second try for Semi Kunatani that stretched their lead back out to 26 points. England finished the stronger of the teams with two late tries from Jeff Williams to reduce the deficit to 33-19.
Simon Amor, Head Coach said: “It is pleasing to get through to the quarter finals again. We were perhaps too inconsistent today, like a number of teams in terms of performances and results right across the tournament. It goes to show if you don’t keep the ball and turn it over against the big teams you will get punished.
“But we are looking forward to day two and the great thing is we’ll have some fresh legs having been able to rotate the squad today.”
The tournament is being held at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground in Tokyo, Japan and is broadcast on Sky Sports.
Tokyo squad:
Dan Bibby
Tom Bowen
John Brake
Phil Burgess
Alex Gray
Charlie Hayter
Tom Mitchell, captain
Dan Norton
James Rodwell
Josh Watkins (Worcester Warriors)
Marcus Watson
Jeff Williams
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