England Women Sevens lose Challenge Trophy in Sydney
England Women Sevens suffered a disappointing weekend in Sydney, losing to Brazil in the final of the Challenge Trophy.
The side finished the second leg of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in the tenth, losing to the Rio Olympic hosts 17-12 in extra time.
They progressed through to the last two with a 29-17 semi-final victory over Papua New Guinea with tries from Millie Wood, Abbie Brown, Jo Richardson-Watmore, Katie Mason and newcomer Chantelle Miell as well as two Lauren Cattell conversions.
England was leading 12-5 in the final against Brazil through tries from Brown and Rachael Woosey but Brazil levelled in injury time. It was Brazil who scored the crucial try in extra time to seal the victory.
The loss of Alice Richardson-Watmore through injury earlier in the week left the young side exposed and lacking experience.
England finished third in their pool on day one, losing two and winning one of their Pool C matches at Allianz Park on Friday.
England ended the day with a 31-5 defeat to Russia. Elena Zdrokova stepped inside England’s defence to cross for Russia’s opening try inside two minutes.
Natasha Brennan dived over in the corner to level the score but Zdrokova outpaced the England defence on the left wing to score Russia’s second try to give them a 10-5 half-time lead.
Baizat Khamidova flew down the right wing to outpace England’s defence for their third, as did Marina Petrova, while a late Nikolina Riashina try sealed a comfortable win.
England got their Sydney campaign off to a winning start beating Spain 19-10 through a Jo Richardson-Watmore hat trick and two Lauren Cattell conversions.
They led 14-5 at the break with Richardson-Watmore going over in the second minute before crossing a couple of minutes later and once again with four minutes of the game remaining.
Despite a ‘wonder try’ from Fisher, England was then beaten 22-14 by the United States.
They led 14-10 at the break with captain Abbie Brown crossing in the opening minutes while Fisher later seared through the opposition outside her own 22m before outpacing the United States defence to touch down before half-time.
However, United States then scored 17 unanswered points, having earlier scored through Kristen Thomas, before going on to finished runners-up to Canada in the Cup Final on day two.
Assistant coach James Bailey said: “This was a tough couple of days for our squad. We are a young team that will get better in time. This tournament has provided lots of lessons for us to learn, which will only be positive in the long run.”
England next travel to Las Vegas for the third leg of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, 3 – 5 March, having dropped to eighth place in the overall series rankings.
England Women squad, Sydney
Natasha Brennan, Abbie Brown (C), Alice Richardson-Watmore, Millie Wood, Lauren Cattell, Rachael Woosey, Heather Fisher, Kelly Smith, Fran Matthews, Jo Richardson-Watmore, Katie Mason, Chantelle Miell
Day Two
Challenge Trophy Final
England 12 – 17 Brazil
Tries: Brown, Woosey
Conversions: Cattell
Challenge Trophy Semi-Finals
England 29 – 17 Papua New Guinea
Tries: Brown, Mason, Miell, Richardson-Watmore, Wood
Conversions: Cattell (2)
Day One Pool C results
England 19 – 10 Spain
Tries: Richardson-Watmore (3)
Conversions: Cattell (2)
England 14 – 22 USA
Tries: Brown, Fisher
Conversions: Cattell (2)
England 5 – 31 Russia
Tries: Brennan
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