The side struggled to overcome their tough opening day pool which featured the series’ leading two sides and tournament finalists, New Zealand and Australia, as well as Brazil.

Spain win Challenge Trophy (Photo: Mike Lee KLC Fotos)

In Saturday’s final, Spain opened the scoring with Uri Barrutieta going over in the corner after good retention from England’s opponents.

Patricia Garcia then picked up off the back of a scrum to dart over from 5m to give Spain a 10-0 lead at the break. England could not find a way back into the game in the second half and Spain held on for victory.

Earlier, England had progressed to the final with a comprehensive 45-7 victory over Argentina. Kelly Smith opened the scoring after showing fine pace to score the first try. A minute later great hands released Chantelle Miell to race through and Alice Richardson-Watmore’s conversion took the score to 12-0.

Argentina showed great tenacity to create space for Deborah Fretes Hernandez to dart through and reduce the deficit. Holly Aitchison then collected Richardson-Watmore’s kick to score her first try on the World Rugby HSBC Women’s Sevens Series and the conversion gave England Women a 19-7 lead.

Millie Wood had her fourth try of the weekend after powering through midfield to score which Richardson-Watmore converted. Richardson-Watmore was the provider again with Miell the beneficiary of a fine floated pass which saw her cross for England’s fifth try.

Richardson-Watmore had a well-deserved try of her own then, racing nearly the length of the field to score under the posts – also converting her effort. Lauren Cattell added gloss to the performance converting her own try in stoppage time.

England failed to reach the Cup play-offs, beating only Brazil 12-0 in Pool C. The side opened their tournament with a 31-14 defeat by Olympic champions Australia before going down 27-5 to eventual tournament winners New Zealand.

England remain in eighth place in the overall series standings, six points behind France and four above Ireland,  with the fourth and next leg in Kitakyushu, Japan, 22-23 April.

England Women squad, Las Vegas

Natasha Brennan, Abbie Brown ©, Alice Richardson-Watmore, Millie Wood, Lauren Cattell, Deborah Fleming, Lotte Clapp, Kelly Smith, Fran Matthews, Jo Richardson-Watmore, Holly Aitchison, Chantelle Miell

Challenge Trophy Final
England 0 – 10 Spain

Challenge Trophy Semi-Final

Argentina 7 – 45 England
Tries: Smith, Miell (2), Aitchison, Wood, A Richardson-Watmore, Cattell
Conversions: A Richardson-Watmore (4), Cattell

Pool Results

Australia 31 – 14 England
Tries: Brown, Wood
Conversions: A Richardson-Watmore

New Zealand 25 – 5 England
Try: Wood

Brazil 0 – 12 England
Tries: Brennan, Wood
Conversion: A Richardson-Watmore

You can see all the day’s results here.

Report courtesy of England Rugby

Player of the Final Ruby Tui (Photo: Mike Lee)

In the final, New Zealand never looked in trouble against Olympic champions Australia, racking up a 28-0 lead before Mahalia Murphy responded with a consolation try for the Aussies. Meanwhile, Portia Woodman, Tyla Nathan-Wong, player of the final Ruby Tui and Alena Faalogoifo Saili had put the Black Ferns Sevens out of sight and they finished 28-5 to the good.

Afterwards, a beaming Woodman said: “We came second in the Olympics to Australia so to beat them now in two finals this season, in Dubai and again tonight, is kind of bitter-sweet. But we are delighted with this win, we’re going to enjoy it and then look ahead to the next tournament and see how we go from there.”

Meanwhile, in the bronze final, Canada won the battle of North America, beating USA 31-7 much to the disappointment of around 30,000 home fans packed into Sam Boyd Stadium for the two-day party that is the HSBC USA Sevens in Sin City.

Patricia Garcia’s Spain won the Challenge Trophy, beating England 10-0 in the final.

Now half-way through the series, attentions will shift to Kitakyushu, Japan, for the fourth round from 22-23 April. New Zealand are definitely the form team at the moment but with teams like Fiji, Ireland, Spain and Russia putting more and more pressure on the top teams, they know they will be pushed every inch of the way.

Report courtesy of World Rugby

Ghislaine Landry’s Canada were particularly dominant, beating Russia 34-7, Argentina 38-7 and France 21-7, backing up their victorious performance in Sydney and laying down a marker for their rivals in knock-out play on Saturday.

And when Landry converted Kayla Moleschi’s try towards the end of the win over France, she drew level with New Zealand’s Portia Woodman as the all-time leading points-scorer in HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series history with 665.

Among Canada’s rivals, the Black Ferns Sevens looked the most likely on day one to challenge as they came through a tough Pool C unscathed beating Brazil, England and trans-Tasman rivals Australia in the process.

As well as Canada and NZ, the other teams to make it through to the quarter-finals are Australia, Fiji, France, Ireland and Russia.

For the second series tournament in succession – and, indeed, only the second time in history – England failed to progress from the pool stage and will now play for the Challenge trophy. There they’ll be joined by Argentina, Brazil and Spain.

You can find all the scores from day one here.

Report courtesy of World Rugby

England made a strong start against Brazil with Emily Wood scoring England’s first try finishing off Jo Richardson-Watmore’s break on the right wing, which Alice Richardson-Watmore converted in the opening minute.

Natasha Brennan then ghosted through for try number two as England took a 12-0 lead into the break at the Sam Boyd Stadium.

However, they failed to cross in a scoreless second-half and now move into the knockout stages of the Challenge Trophy competition where they will face Argentina while Spain take on Brazil in the last four.

Earlier, tries from Abbie Brown and Wood were not enough to stop a powerful Australia side with an Emilee Cherry hat trick and two for Ellia Green sealing a 31-14 victory.

They followed that up with another tough clash against New Zealand in Pool C.

Sarah Goss brushed off the England defence for their first try of the game after two minutes before the impressive Wood seared through New Zealand’s defence to dive over in the corner and level the score.

Portia Woodman showed good footwork and pace on the right wing to dot down New Zealand’s second try and her 131st in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series.

On the stroke of half-time Alena Saili finished off a New Zealand turnover for their third try of the half and Kelly Brazier’s converted score took the lead to 22-5.

Michaela Blyde then powered through a tackle for try number five as the score finished 27-5.

Canada, United States and New Zealand all topped their pools, with Russia, Fiji, Australia, France and Ireland joining them in the quarter-finals of the Cup.

England Women squad, Las Vegas

1 Natasha Brennan, 2 Abbie Brown capt, 3 Alice Richardson-Watmore, 4 Millie Wood, 5 Lauren Cattell, 6. Deborah Fleming, 7. Lotte Clapp, 8. Kelly Smith, 9. Fran Matthews, 10. Jo Richardson-Watmore, 11. Holly Aitchison, 12. Chantelle Miell.

Results, Pool C

Friday 3 March

v Australia (31-14)

v New Zealand (27-5)

v Brazil, KO (12-0)

You can see all day one scores here.

Report courtesy of England Rugby

Pool Matches – Friday 3 March 2017

Match 1               USA 7s 21 – 24 Ireland 7s

Match 2               Fiji 7s 21-19 Spain 7s

Match 3               Canada 7s 34-7 Russia 7s

Match 4               France 7s 45-7 Argentina 7s

Match 5               New Zealand 7s 24-0 Brazil 7s

Match 6               Australia 7s 31-14 England 7s

Match 7               USA 7s 22-7 Spain 7s

Match 8               Fiji 7s 31-5 Ireland 7s

Match 9               Canada 7s 38-7 Argentina 7s

Match 10             France 7s 19-22 Russia 7s

Match 11             New Zealand 7s 27-5 England 7s

Match 12             Australia 7s 38-0 Brazil 7s

Match 13             USA 7s 14-7 Fiji 7s

Match 14             Ireland 7s 14-14 Spain 7s

Match 15             Canada 7s 21-7 France 7s

Match 16             Russia 7s 36-0 Argentina 7s

Match 17             New Zealand 7s 21-14 Australia 7s

Match 18             Brazil 7s 0-12 England 7s

SAT MAR 4 2017

Challenge Trophy Semi Finals

Match 19             08.00     England 7s 45-7 Argentina 7s

Match 20             08.22     Spain 7s 19-7 Brazil 7s

Cup Quarter Finals

Match 21             08.44     Canada 7s 33-0 France 7s

Match 22             09.06     Fiji 7s 7-22 Australia 7s

Match 23             09.28     USA 7s 20-12 Ireland 7s

Match 24             09.50     New Zealand 7s 21-5  Russia 7s

11^th Place Play Off

Match 25             11.06     Argentina 7s 0-41 Brazil 7s

Challenge Trophy Final

Match 26             11.28     England 7s 0-10 Spain 7s

5^th Place Semi Finals

Match 27             11.50     France 7s 12-15 Fiji 7s

Match 28             12.12     Ireland 7s 5-20 Russia

Cup Semi Finals

Match 29             12.34     Canada 7s  17-26 Australia 7s

Match 30             12.56     USA 7s 7-12 New Zealand 7s

7th Place Play-Off

Match 31             16.52     France 7s 15-5 Ireland 7s

5th Place Play-Off

Match 32             17.16     Fiji 7s 12-10 Russia 7s

Bronze Final

Match 33             17.40     Canada 7s 31-7 USA 7s

Cup Final

Match 34             18.08     Australia 7s 5-28 New Zealand 7s

Times stated are local

James Bailey has made three changes to the side.  19-year-old Holly Aitchison and Lotte Clapp, who has 10 senior 15-a-side caps and scored a try in England’s 2016 Six Nations win over Italy, will make their World Series debuts in Las Vegas, while Deborah Fleming rejoins the squad having appeared in the opening leg of the series in Dubai.

Abbie Brown will again captain the side and is joined by Team GB teammates Alice Richardson-Watmore and Jo Richardson-Watmore. Fellow Olympian Heather Fisher is a notable absentee, missing the competition with an injury.

Following a disappointing performance last time in Sydney, England face a tough opening day of competition, drawn in Pool C against Olympic champions Australia, current series leaders New Zealand and Brazil. Pool games will be available to view online via WorldRugby.org with live broadcast of the play-off finals early Sunday morning on Sky Sports Mix (12.35 – 2.45am).

England Women Sevens assistant coach Bailey said: “The result in Sydney was disappointing but the players have responded well in training ahead of this next round.

“The squad has shown resilience and we have been working hard on all aspects of our performance to ensure we move forward in Las Vegas.

“The USA Sevens will be a challenging tournament for this group having been drawn in the same pool as Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, however it will be another opportunity for the squad to test themselves against some of the best teams in the world.”

England sit eighth in the World Rugby HSBC Women’s Sevens Series standings after they were defeated 17-12 by Brazil in the final of the Challenge Trophy in Sydney and a fourth place finish in Dubai.

England Women squad, Las Vegas

1. Natasha Brennan
2. Abbie Brown ©
3. Alice Richardson-Watmore
4. Millie Wood
5. Lauren Cattell
6. Deborah Fleming
7. Lotte Clapp
8. Kelly Smith
9. Fran Matthews
10. Jo Richardson-Watmore
11. Holly Aitchison
12. Chantelle Miell

Schedule Pool C (all times GMT and games available via WorldRugby.org)

Friday 3 March

v Australia, KO 6.07pm
v New Zealand, KO 8.30pm
v Brazil, KO 11.37pm

Report courtesy of England Rugby

The announcement brings the number of rounds on the women’s series to six, with the season kicking off in Dubai on Thursday.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “It’s great to see the top women’s teams visit Las Vegas. The women’s series has gone from strength to strength every season and captivated Olympic audiences with its exciting, high-quality rugby. The series is sure to grow even further and fans in the USA are in for a treat when the women’s series links up with the men’s in Las Vegas.”

USA Rugby Chief Executive Dan Payne said: “We are very proud to combine the men’s and women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for what will be an unforgettable weekend next March. The tournament in Las Vegas has become not just the largest rugby event in the United States, but one of the biggest overall weekends in Las Vegas in terms of tourism and spending, and this will just add another level of elite competition, pageantry and interest to the city and to our fast-growing sport.”

The fifth women’s series gets underway on Dubai on 1-2 December, before moving to Sydney on 3-4 February, 2017. After Las Vegas, the series goes to Kitakyushu, Japan, for the first time on 22-23 April. The penultimate round takes place in Langford, Canada, on 27-28 May before the series finishes up in Clermont-Ferrand, France, on 24-25 June.

At the end of yet another record-breaking season in 2015-16, Australia made history by being crowned the country’s first series champions in Clermont-Ferrand in May, before beating New Zealand to win Olympic gold in Rio, igniting a new passion for the game and creating millions of new fans across the world.

The series itself saw record numbers of social media engagement with fans across the world, while this season will see the action broadcast to more than 100 countries across the globe.

HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2016-17 dates and venues:

Dubai: 1-2 December, 2016
Sydney: 3-4 February, 2017
Las Vegas: 3-5 March
Kitakyushu: 22-23 April
Langford: 27-28 May
Clermont-Ferrand: 24-25 June

Courtesy of World Rugby

Thursday 3^rd March 2016

Friday 4 March 2016

Saturday 5 March 2016

Sunday 6 March 2016