Edwards’ extra time try seals win over Sweden

A WILL Edwards extra time try saw England finish seventh at the Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series in Lodz after beating Sweden 29-24.

England went out of the Cup to Portugal in the quarter-finals and then lost to Spain in the fifth place playoff. But they managed to finish with a win in dramatic fashion after being forced into extra-time by Sweden.

George Chatterton got England off the mark as he scythed through during their first meaningful attack for an early 7-0 lead. And Tom Bowen bagged England's second moments later, making it 12-0.

But Sweden rallied, working the ball well, they crossed for two scores of their own, levelling at 12-12.

Bowen grabbed his second at the beginning of the second half but England’s lead was short lived as Sweden levelled the match once more with just two minutes remaining.

A converted Timothy Bitrim try looked to have sealed the win for England, only for Sweden to score in the final play of the game to send the game into extra time. Captain Edwards grabbed the golden try, ghosting around the outside of the Swedish defence to dive over.

Eralier, England were beaten 26-24 by Spain in the fifth place play-off after staging a late comeback from 17 points down.

Edwards got England off to a fine start but Spain fought back with three tries of their own for a 19-7 half time lead, and they struck again early in the second half.

Chatterton and Olawale Lipede scored to cut the deficit to nine points and Edwards added another but England lost 26-24.

In their first game of the day they fell to Portugal 19-7 in the Cup quarterfinal with Muir scoring.

Day One saw a 22-5 victory over Sweden with Bowen grabbing a brace, followed up with a last minute score from Bitirim to beat France 17-14 before narrowly missing out to Georgia 19-17.