England Sevens beaten by Samoa in Hong Kong
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Loading...England Sevens finished their HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Hong Kong with defeat to Samoa on day three of the tournament.
Captained by Will Edwards, the 12-man squad featured Team England’s Alex Davis and Charlie Hayter alongside a number of the England Sevens’ academy talent, including four players (Charlie Spawforth, George Chatterton, Will Wilson and Charlie Kingham) who made their World Series debuts in Hong Kong.
After finishing third in their pool, England faced Australia on the final day in Hong Kong. They started brightly as Ryan Olowofela had given them the lead. However, two tries from Australia saw them take the advantage before captain Will Edwards made the score 14-12 to England at the break. In a tactical game, Australia scored the only try of the second half as Sam Figg crossed to give them a narrow victory.
Olowofela was on the scoresheet again in England’s next game, along with Charlton Kerr, but Samoa proved too good as England were beaten in the knockout game 33-10.
England Sevens assistant coach Tony Roques said: “Overall looking back with such a young team, obviously we’re disappointed with where we finished, but we’re really pleased with the performances that the boys put in and they gave it their all.
“They fought really hard against Australia and it was just a bounce of a ball in the end. We took a lot from that game – could have been better defensively and missed a few opportunities in attack, but the boys dug in, put in a real performance and it’s just that lack of experience that cost us.
“Against Samoa we changed it and started some of the younger lads to give them experience. We created a lot of opportunities, but against a very experienced side we turned the ball over a few too many times and gave them some tries. But we still showed a lot of passion and desire and I’m pleased that when we put the points in place in attack we scored an excellent try through Ryan Olowofela.
“I think we all learnt a lot as a group this weekend. A lot of boys were playing their first World Series tournament here in Hong Kong. They would have taken a lot from that and hopefully will go on from this and we’ve seen a couple of players that in the future will wear the England Sevens shirt a few more times.”
England Sevens squad for Hong Kong:
George Chatterton
Alex Davis
Will Edwards ©
Will Glover (Newcastle University)
Charlie Hayter
Ben Howard (Worcester Warriors)
Charlton Kerr
Charlie Kingham (Loughborough University)
Ryan Olowofela
Callum Sirker
Charlie Spawforth
Will Wilson (Oxford University)
13th man: Fergus Guiry
England’s Pool C fixtures:
England 19 – 22 Scotland
Tries: Howard, Olowofela, Sirker
England 47 – 7 South Korea
Tries: Howard, Olowofela, Wilson, Davis (2), Kerr, Glover
England 15 – 33 South Africa
Tries: Davis, Wilson, Edwards
Challenge Trophy quarter-final
England 14 – 17 Australia
Tries: Olowofela, Edwards
13th place semi-final
England 10 – 33 Samoa
Tries: Olowofela, Kerr
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