Amor’s lads face Kiwis in Hamilton last eight
HOSTS New Zealand laid in wait for England in the early hours of this morning in the Cup quarter-final at the World 7s Series in Hamilton after finishing second in Pool B on day one.
After coming a lowly joint seventh in the New Zealand leg last week, which hosts Australia won, England looked in great form to run out 47-0 winners over Russia.
They were in impressive form again with a 27-0 victory over Papua New Guinea but went down 28-7 in the pool decider against series leaders South Africa.
Head coach Simon Amor said: “We had two very good first games but we were then outplayed by a very strong South African team in our last game. They were far more clinical both in their defence and attack and the speed that they play at.
“We started well against South Africa but we just couldn’t quite break through. A big one for us to learn from but I’m pleased with the fight to keep on going until the very end to score that last try, but it’s set us up with a lot to work on for tomorrow.”
Ahead of the last-eight clash against New Zealand, Amor added: “We want to push on – we were disappointed only to make it to the quarter-final in the last two legs so we’re going to give it our best shot right the way through to the end of this tournament.”
Amor had challenged England to improve their attacking game following their joint seventh place finish in Sydney last weekend, and his team responded right from the off.
Ruaridh McConnochie got England’s day off and running as he crossed for the first of two tries against Russia inside the first minute while 19-yearold Ryan Olowofela scored his first two tries on the World Series also in the win over Russia.
They repeated the quickfire start against Papua New Guinea as Tom Bowen raced away to dot down within the first 60 seconds, for the first of what turned into a hat-trick against the Pacific Islanders.
However in the match against the Blitzboks, two quick tries from Seabelo Senatla and one from Tim Agaba saw South Africa take control.