England to face Samoa in RWC7s 1/4 Final Dubai2009
By RFU Press Office
March 6 2009
IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens - 2009 - Dubai England will face Samoa in the cup quarter final after a confident display against Kenya at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.
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Rugby World Cup Sevens - 2009 - Dubai
England will face Samoa in the cup quarter final after a confident display
against Kenya at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai.
England had a shaky start this morning in their second pool match against
Tunisia. But this evening they were back in fine form running over the line four
times to seal the win.
Kevin Barrett had England's opening try after an overthrown Kenyan lineout gave
England possession. Ben Gollings added the conversion and England were 7-0 up
after two minutes.
Kenya answered back minutes later with their only try of the match.
England's last try of the half came from an England scrum, Tom
Varndell
charging up the right wing from well in his own half. Gollings
failed to convert taking the scores to 12-7.
England came back to dominate further, with Isoa Damundamu scoring the
first of two tries after quickstepping two
defenders to slam down under the posts. Gollings
converted.
Damu was back at
the restart powering through the Kenyan defence to head straight for the line. Gollings
added the rest to take the final score to 26-7.
Coach Ben Ryan said "This team is assembled
for big games; this is what they do well and we didn't let them get into their
stride and we suffocated them."
Ben Gollings "Deep
down we always knew we have a few more gears to go. We're a bit lackadaisical
against Tunisia but tonight was a completely different story, we didn't miss one
tackle."
England face Samoa in the cup quarter final at 1.50pm local time, GMT +4.
England: Isoa Damundamu (British Army/London Wasps), Rob Vickerman
(Leeds Carnegie), Tom Varndell
(Leicester Tigers), Ollie Phillips (Newcastle Falcons), Kevin Barrett (Exeter
Chiefs), Ben Gollings (Gold Coast,
Australia), Chris Cracknell (Exeter
Chiefs)
Replacements: Josh Drauniniu
(Exeter Chiefs), Andy Vilk (Benetton Treviso)
Tries: Barrett, Varndell, Damudamu
(2)
Conversions: Gollings (3)
Thursday March 5, 2009
England 43-5 Hong Kong
Friday March 6, 2009
England 26-24 Tunisia
England 26-7 Kenya
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Considering they won the group would've hoped for an easier opponent than Samoa.
England Sevens winger Ollie Phillips reports exclusively from camp at the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009.
Ollie's World Cup diary - We're in the quarters!
We made it through and now it starts getting really though. We face Samoa today in the cup quarter final and it's going to be a massive game. But you need to play top sides, that's how you improve and I'm confident that these 12 men can rise to the challenge.
Yesterday was a very long day but a successful one. I think the match against Tunisia was a wake up call. They played very well and so did we in the first half but in the second we just sat back and rested on our laurels and we were punished for it.
Tom's (Varndell) pass to BG (Ben Gollings) was the right decision as it allowed BG to score right under the posts for the conversion, if we hadn't of done that then we wouldn't be where we are now.
After that match we were fairly down but we knew Kenya would be a must win match and we needed to pick ourselves up and remind ourselves that we are in a World Cup.
We had a really long break between the two matches, which was good, because it gave us a chance to refocus and rest. I had a sleep as did most of the boys, some watched a few of the other matches. After the rest we all had a run about to wake the muscles and get ready for the match.
So now we're faced with Samoa, they beat us in San Diego so we have a score to settle.
My family are here and that's been really nice, although, I haven't really been able to see them but to know they are here is a support.
Cheers
Ollie
England 26-31Samoa
Bitter disappointment for England Sevens as they leave the Rugby World Cup empty handed.
England fought to the end and at full time the scores were 26 apiece but an extra time try from Samoa sealed their fate.
Samoa kept England working from the start putting the first points on the board within the second minute.
Tom Varndell answered back from the restart pushing off two defenders to fly in under the posts for Ben Gollings to convert.
Samoa intercepted an England pass for their second try and kept their 100% conversion record to take the scores to 7-21 at the break.
England looked to have another chance early in the second half but a Rob Vickerman pass to Varndell was just out of reach and England were penalised for a knock on.
Varndell made up for it moments later to score his second try of the match in the far left corner. Gollings failed to convert to take the scores to 12-21.
An Ollie Phillips chip and chase looked to be England's third try but referee, Andrew Lees, had called a knock on so England came back for a scrum. This time there was no doubt for Phillips as he flew through for a try under the posts. Gollings converted.
Samoa came back after England lost possession for holding on to score their fourth try and take the scores to 19-26.
As the buzzer went for full time England had a lineout and Exeter's Josh Drauniniu broke Samoa's defence to score England's equalising try.
With the scores at 26-26 the match went to sudden death. England were put under pressure when Gollings was caught offside and Samoa went in for the winning try.
Coach Ben Ryan said, "Pressure reveals itself in many different ways. We give these players empowerment to go out and make their own decisions.
"For us now we have to go away and concentrate on the IRB World Series. We have Hong Kong later this month and we need to go there and win and then go on to win the Series."
England: Isoa Damudamu (British Army/London Wasps), Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Ollie Phillips (Newcastle Falcons), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Gollings (Gold Coast, Australia), Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs)
Replacements: Josh Drauniniu (Exeter Chiefs), Andy Vilk (Benetton Treviso), Charlie Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester Rugby).
Tries: Varndell (2), Phillips, Drauniniu
Conversions: Gollings (3)
England results:
Thursday March 5, 2009
England 43-5 Hong Kong
Friday March 6, 2009
England results:
England 26-24 Tunisia
England 26-7 Kenya
Saturday March 7, 2009
Cup quarter final England 26-31 Samoa
Ends