England Women retain London 7s title

from RFU.com:

England Women were crowned London Sevens champions on Sunday after a comprehensive 36-7 victory over reigning world champions Australia at the Marriott London Sevens.

England suffered a 20-19 defeat to the Wallaroos yesterday in the pool stages but bounced back with an impressive five try victory in front of over 41,000 people at Twickenham Stadium.

Australia had little response to an England team who executed their game plan to perfection in the final with the powerhouse Marlie Packer charging over to score after just one minute.

Worcester’s Joanne Watmore was as dangerous as ever, underlining why she is one of the best finishers in the Sevens game with her fifth try of the tournament. Katy McLean then added try number three before the break to put England into a comfortable 21-0 lead at half-time.

A lovely dummy and side-step by skipper Michaela Staniford continued England’s rout after the restart before Katherine Merchant added the final try of the afternoon. Australia hit back with a Tiama Penitani try, which was converted, but that was where their charge ended and when Merchant crossed the line for her second Australia were already out of the game.

England Sevens Head Coach Barry Maddocks said: “I am really happy with this result. Obviously we have won the title and that is fantastic but I am also delighted with the way the team came back from the defeat to Australia yesterday. That defeat actually was really important as we learned a lot of things and we are a much better team for it today.

“This is our second title of the season, after our win in Houston, and we are going to keep building as the Rugby World Cup Sevens gets closer and closer.”

England booked their spot in the semi-finals when they outplayed Canada 17-12 in the semi-finals. Lichfield’s Emily Scarratt was in fine form and picked up England’s first try and she also had a hand in England’s second – scored by Staniford. Canada hit back through Kayla Moleschi and Arielle Dubissette-Borrice to make it 12-12 as full-time approached but in the end Watmore put England safely through as she side-stepped her way through to score in the dying seconds of the game.

In the quarter-finals England defeated Ireland 12-0.  In what was probably their best half of the tournament up to that point, England scored all their points in the first-half through Packer and Watmore, with the likes of Alex Matthews and Staniford very influential. England couldn’t put any more points on the board after the restart but it was still enough to get them through to the final four.

England now travel to Amsterdam for the final round of the IRB Sevens World Series next weekend. England currently sit second in the series rankings behind New Zealand.