England gear up for Series with Euro win

/ September 24, 2013

England gear up for Series with Euro win

Dan Norton scored England’s fifth try in the final in Bucharest

England lifted a second successive European title after beating France 31-7 in the final of the FIRA European Sevens Grand Prix Series in Bucharest.

Under new coach Simon Amor, England’s win in Romania added to their win at the Lyon Sevens earlier this summer, ensuring they were crowned European Series champions before they head off to the Gold Coast for the first round of the HSBC Sevens World Series.

Playing alongside Series regulars Wales, France, Portugal, Scotland and Spain, England went undefeated in pool play, beating Wales (40-7), Portugal (26-14), Italy (19-0), Romania (14-7) and Georgia (17-7).

France topped the other pool, meanwhile, although they needed to recover from an early 14-7 loss to Spain before posting improved performances against Russia (27-17), Scotland (19-12), Ukraine (40-5) and Germany (40-14).

In the final, England playmaker Dan Bibby’s two early tries put them 14-0 up at half time against the French, before Christian Lewis-Pratt, Phil Burgess and last season’s top try scorer Dan Norton ensured Amor was victorious in his first outing as England coach.

Lyon runners-up Russia also finished strongly, beating the other Cup semi-finalists Italy 31-7 to claim third place, powerful wing Denis Simplikevic scoring his tenth try of the tournament.

Portugal beat Georgia to claim the Plate and Romania beat a young Welsh side to the Bowl.

The tournament is an important part of the teams’ preparation for the HSBC Sevens World Series, which kicks of on Australia’s Gold Coast on 12-13 October.

Semifinals

Bowl

  • 31 22/09/2013
    Wales
    28  – 5
    		Ukraine
  • 32 22/09/2013
    Romania
    17  – 7
    		Spain

Plate

  • 33 22/09/2013
    Portugal
    19  – 12
    		Scotland
  • 34 22/09/2013
    Georgia
    22  – 7
    		Germany

Cup

  • 35 22/09/2013
    England
    24  – 14
    		Russia
  • 36 22/09/2013
    Italy
    0  – 21
    		France

Finals

Bowl

  • 37 22/09/2013
    Ukraine
    5  – 21
    		Spain
  • 38 22/09/2013
    Wales
    12  – 17
    		Romania

Plate

  • 39 22/09/2013
    Scotland
    36  – 12
    		Germany
  • 40 22/09/2013
    Portugal
    24  – 10
    		Georgia

Cup

  • 41 22/09/2013
    Russia
    31  – 7
    		Italy
  • 42 22/09/2013
    England
    31  – 7
    		France

Final standings – Bucharest Sevens

Score Tries Conv. Pen. Drops Cards
Rank Teams f. a. diff. f. a. f. a. f. a. f. a. Y. R.
1 England 178 56 122 28 8 19 8 0 0 0 0 2 0
2 France 161 93 68 25 15 18 9 0 0 0 0 1 0
3 Russia 160 98 62 26 16 15 9 0 0 0 0 2 0
4 Italy 74 126 -52 12 20 7 13 0 0 0 0 5 0
5 Portugal 98 74 24 16 12 9 7 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Georgia 87 97 -10 15 15 6 11 0 0 0 0 2 0
7 Scotland 128 106 22 21 17 9 9 0 0 0 1 2 0
8 Germany 125 146 -21 18 23 16 13 0 0 1 0 0 0
9 Romania 86 87 -1 14 13 8 11 0 0 0 0 2 0
10 Wales 87 126 -39 13 22 11 8 0 0 0 0 2 0
11 Spain 116 94 22 18 16 13 7 0 0 0 0 2 0
b Ukraine 27 224 -197 5 34 1 27 0 0 0 0 3 0

 

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