England Women finish fourth overall in Sevens World Series

By KBM
May 15 2014

England Women cemented their fourth place finish in the World Sevens Series this season after finishing fourth in the final leg in Amsterdam on Saturday. England lost out to Canada in the third/fourth place play-off - a match that proved a game too far for England as they lost 10-0 with Bianca Farella running in a brace of tries.

England's Sarah McKenna

The result, however, was England’s joint best finish of the season as they also finished fourth in Brazil, losing to Canada in that play-off game too.

England Women’s Sevens Head Coach Simon Middleton said: “Obviously we are disappointed not to have finished third or even made the final but when we look at where we have come this season, to finish fourth behind three full-time professional teams is an achievement to be proud of.

“The result against Canada was extra frustrating as we know we can beat them, but they played better than us on the day. We’ll be disappointed for an hour or so tonight but when we reflect we will see a lot of positives about what has been achieved this season.”

England booked their place in the play-off match after losing 26-10 to World Series champions New Zealand. England were left disappointed with that result after a superb start that saw Danielle Waterman score a try and create a second before the break. But then the tables turned and New Zealand took control to run in four tries to take a flattering victory.

England opened their account on day two of the Amsterdam tournament with a 7-0 win over France in the quarter-finals. Held at 0-0 at half-time Bristol’s Amy Wilson then put England ahead with a crucial try. Sarah McKenna added the conversion.

England Squad

Claire Allan (Richmond) VC

Natasha Brennan (Richmond)

Abigail Chamberlain (Richmond) C

Heather Fisher (Worcester)

Francesca Matthews (Richmond)

Sarah McKenna (Saracens)

Marlie Packer (Wasps)

Emily Scott (Thurrock)

Michaela Staniford (Wasps)

Lydia Thompson (Worcester)

Danielle Waterman (Bristol)

Amy Wilson-Hardy (Bristol)

England Playing Schedule, IRB WSWS,

Friday, May 16

England 36 Netherlands 5

Tries: Waterman, Staniford, McKenna, Brennan (2), Scott

Conversions: McKenna 3

England 19 Brazil 5

Tries: Thompson, Allan, Fisher

Conversions: Scott (2)

Canada 5 England 10

Tries: Waterman, Brennan

Saturday, May 17

Quarter-final: England 7 France 0,

Tries: Wilson-Hardy

Conversion: McKenna

Semi-Final: England 10 New Zealand 26

Tries: Waterman, Chamberlain

3^rd/4^th Place Play-Off: England 0 Canada 10

England Women target fourth place in Sevens World Series

England Sevens Captain Abigail Chamberlain

After four rounds, which has seen England win Plate titles in Dubai and China, England currently share fourth place with fierce rivals Russia and Chamberlain is eager her side get the upper hand over their Russian counterparts.

“Ultimately we want to cement our fourth place in the World Series standings so that means finishing above Russia,” said the Richmond player. “Finishing fourth is probably where we expected to be this season and if we can do that and finish behind three exceptional teams in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, that is a good result for us.”

To do that, England will need to overcome a difficult pool which includes hosts the Netherlands, 2016 Olympic hosts Brazil and last year’s Rugby World Cup finalists Canada.

“This is the last leg of the series and we want to go out there with a bang,” added Chamberlain “This is our last chance to do that so we’ve got nothing to lose. That said, it isn’t going to be easy. Netherlands and Brazil will present us with a real challenge whilst we fell short against Canada in the China quarter-final last month when we didn’t play to our potential. We will definitely be looking to turn that around this time but they are a very good team and we’ll have to be at our best to beat them.”

England Women’s Sevens Head Coach Simon Middleton has made two changes to the team that were crowned Plate champions in China recalling Richmond’s Claire Allan and Worcester wing Lydia Thompson. Allan and Thompson replace the injured Rachael Burford and Megan Ellery.