England suffer sevens reverse

After claiming bronze at the Commonwealth Games, the England women’s side had a disappointing seventh-place finish at the Kitakyushu Sevens in Japan, the third tournament of the World Series.

New Zealand, who were gold medallists on the Gold Coast, were able to maintain their form, winning the tournament by beating France 24-12 in the final. Olympic gold medallists and Commonwealth silver medallists Australia finished in third place.

England had stated they would focus on peaking for the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby World Cup Sevens, which take place in San Francisco in July.

After an eighth-place finish in Dubai, and missing out on the quarter-finals in Sydney, Kitakyushu has been their best World Series showing. However, England will need to become more consistent if they are to compete with the likes of Australia and New Zealand.

Women’s sevens, with its Olympic event, is affording non-traditional rugby-playing nations a chance to compete at the highest level. It was Spain who scuppered England’s chances in the quarterfinals with a 7-5 win.

Russia currently sit fourth in the World Series rankings and beat England twice over the course of the tournament, including 10-5 in their pool opener and then 41-0 in the fifth-place play-off semi-final. China also reached the quarter-finals, which is seen as a boost for the game in Asia.

James Bailey’s side could only manage one victory in the pool stages – a 21-19 win against Canada – with a defeat to the Fijians and the Russians. England beat China 36-5 in the seventh-place play-off.