England Women Sevens crowned Plate champions in China
By RFU Julia Hutton
April 7 2014
England Women Sevens were crowned Plate Champions at the Sevens World Series in Guangzhou, China after defeating France 19-0 in the Plate Final. The victory hands England their second Plate win of the season after also finishing fifth in Dubai in December.
England had to settle for the Plate knock out games after a Cup quarter-final clash against Canada earlier today proved a step too far. Simon Middleton’s side had trailed 7-5 at the break to last year’s Rugby World Cup finalists but two tries to England’s one after the restart proved decisive, and knocked England out of the reckoning with a 19-10 loss. The defeat then pitted England against Spain in the Plate semi-finals, a side England have never lost to in Sevens. And that did not change in this clash with England running in dominant 26-0 victors thanks to tries from Rachael Burford, Sarah McKenna (2) and Amy Wilson-Hardy. Next-up and England faced France in the final and scores from skipper Abigail Chamberlain, McKenna and a penalty try put the victory out of reach for France. England Women’s Sevens Head Coach Middleton said: “Overall this was a pleasing way to finish the competition as our consistency of performance was good. “We lost to a very good Canada side in the quarter-finals and we competed right to the end. We showed real quality in elements of our play though we made a couple of errors that good sides like Canada will punish. “Overall, we were hoping to pull away from those below us in World rankings and close the gap on those in front which we have done as we are now lying fourth with Russia overall. “We are looking forward to Amsterdam and concluding the world series on what we hope will be a positive note as we have built on every tournament this year in terms of performance.” England Natasha Brennan (Richmond) Rachael Burford (Thurrock) VC Abigail Chamberlain (Richmond) C Megan Ellery (Durham University, Darlington Mowden Park Sharks) Heather Fisher (Worcester) Francesca Matthews (Richmond) Sarah McKenna (Saracens) Marlie Packer (Wasps) Emily Scott (Thurrock) Michaela Staniford (Wasps) Danielle Waterman (Bristol) Amy Wilson-Hardy(Bristol) England playing schedule: Saturday, April 5 England 12 Fiji 15 Tries: McKenna, Brennan Conversions: McKenna England 21 Ireland 19 Tries: Packer, Scott, Fisher, Conversions: Scott (3) England 15 Australia 12 Tries: Burford, Fisher, Conversions: McKenna Penalty: McKenna Sunday, April 6 Quarter-Finals England 10 Canada 19 Tries: Staniford, Ellery Plate Semi-Final England 26 Spain 0 Tries: Burford, McKenna (2), Wilson-Hardy Conversions: McKenna (2), Scott Plate Final England 19 France 0 Tries: Chamberlain, McKenna, Penalty Try Conversions: McKenna (2) |
