England finish fourth at Dubai 7s

England finished fourth at the Dubai Sevens after Tim Mikkelson’s late try clinched a 17-14 play-off win for New Zealand.

Head coach Simon Amor’s team beat Wales 33-12 but they went down 26-12 at the semi final stage to South Africa before going down against the HSBC Sevens World Series champions.

England finished third in the opening event of the Series last month and they are now fourth in the overall standings and Amor was in optimistic mood ahead of the South Africa Sevens in Port Elizabeth next weekend.

England trailed 12-0 in the first half of the play-off before Sam Edgerley and Phil Burgess struck either side of half time only for Mikkelson to get away 20 seconds from time.

Earlier Marcus Watson had scored a hat-trick of tries in the big win over Wales at the quarter final stage.

James Davies and Ashley Evans replied but England pulled away in the second half with Burgess and Mat Turner also touching down.

Tries from Mike Ellery and Mitchell kept England in touch against South Africa in the semi but late strikes from Werner Kok and Chris Dry ended their title hopes.

Fiji, 26-21 winners over England in the pool stages, went on to lift the title by beating South Africa 29-17 in the final.

England made it out of the group stages in second place after  suffering a 26-21 defeat against Fiji.

Samisoni Viriviri got Fiji on the board early but James Rodwell replied in kind in the next minute to make it 7-7.

Ben Ryan’s men went into the break 14-7 in front though as Emosi Mulevoro went over under the posts on the last play.

Two quick tries from Donasio Ratubuli and Benito Masilevu put the Islanders in control although Mike Ellery grabbed two consolation tries for England.

Earlier, they started with a slick seven-try 47-7 success over Canada and then saw off the USA 28-5 as Amor gave all 12 squad members a start in the first two matches.

They started with a slick seven-try 47-7 success over Canada and then saw off the USA 28-5 as Simon Amor gave all 12 squad members a start in the first two matches.

Against Canada, Ellery, Burgess, Bibby, Tom Mitchell, Rodwell, Dan Norton and Jeff Williams all crossed the line while Bibby’s kicking was close to perfect as he added six conversions.

Against the USA, former England U20s captain Alex Gray scored his first try on the World Series tour with Rodwell, Watson and Mitchell also striking.

England Women’s were also in action in Dubai but their journey ended this morning following a 19-12 defeat to Australia.

They rallied to lift the Plate trophy beating the USA 12-10 and Spain 17-10 in the final.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/24928518

England finish fourth at Dubai 7s