Bowen’s brace claims bronze in Sydney
ENGLAND took bronze at the Sydney Sevens with a 19-17 defeat of Rio 2016 Olympic champions Fiji.
Tom Bowen scored two tries before Will Muir added a third, with captain Tom Mitchell converting two of the three.
England had beaten South Africa 26-5 in the quarter-finals but lost 14-7 to eventual runners-up, the USA, in the semis.
England coach Simon Amor said: “We learned an awful lot as a group from last week in Hamilton and I’m impressed with how hard everyone has worked off the pitch.
“I thought we played some great rugby this weekend. We didn’t quite get it right on a couple of occasions but we’ve made some great progress.”
Mike Friday’s USA side fell to a fourth straight cup final defeat when, for the second time this season, New Zealand got the better of the Eagles. The 21-5 victory for the All Blacks sees them tie with the USA at the top of the overall standings.
The wait for silverware goes on for Friday's team – which previously also fell at the final hurdle in Dubai, Cape Town, and Hamilton – after tries from Regan Ware, Sam Dickson, and Tone Ng Shiu handed the All Blacks victory with Brett Thompson producing a late reply for the USA.
Scotland failed to make it out of the pool after losing all their matches, while Wales won the Shield final.
New Zealand also won gold in the women’s tournament, making it six tournaments in a row for the second time in World Women’s Sevens Series history after a Michaela Blyde hat-trick inspired them to a 34-10 defeat of hosts Australia.
England finished 10th after losing 15-12 to Fiji in the Challenge Trophy final while Ireland lost in the bronze medal final with a 26-10 defeat to the USA.
England had defeated Papua New Guinea 54-0 in the Challenge Trophy semifinals.