Hamilton Sevens: England Women look to bounce back
England Women Sevens have been beaten in their first two matches of the HSBC Hamilton Sevens.
Charlie Hayter’s side opened against Fiji and took the lead in the second minute when Alex Matthews managed to power over.
The Fijians though responded with four unanswered tries as Ana Maria Naimasi, Asinate Savu, Raijieli Daveua and Tokasa Seniyasi opened up a 26-5 lead at the start of the second half.
England rallied with tries from captain Abbie Brown and Ellie Kildunne, with Helena Rowland adding two conversions, but were not able to add a fourth score as they went down to a narrow defeat.
In the final game of the women’s competition on day one, England faced hosts New Zealand but were overpowered but the current series leaders.
Michaela Blyde crossed four times with Stacey Fluhler adding two more tries as the Kiwis racked up 40 points in Hamilton, with Georgie Lingham, on her first World Rugby Sevens Series outing, getting a late consolation try for England.
They will now face China in their final Pool A game [Saturday 25 January, 21.13 GMT] in a match you can watch on Sky Sports Action.
FIXTURES AND RESULTS
Pool A
England 19-26 Fiji
Tries: Matthews ‘2, Brown ’10, Kildunne ’12
New Zealand 40-7 England
Tries: Lingham ’13
England v China [Sunday 26 January/Saturday 25 January 10.13am local time/21.13pm GMT]
All matches are shown live on Sky Sports Action.
SQUAD
Abbie Brown (C)
Abi Burton
Heather Fisher
Deborah Fleming
Sydney Gregson
Megan Jones
Ellie Kildunne
Georgie Lingham (Saracens)
Alex Matthews
Jodie Ounsley
Helena Rowland
Beth Wilcock
Amy Wilson Hardy
Courtesy of the RFU
