England Sevens off to Winning start in Hong Kong

England Rugby Sevens team met Hong Kong the hosts for their opening game of the 30th Hong Kong Sevens. 

 England soundly beat Hong Kong 52-0.

Fiji sit at the top of the IRB Sevens standings with 72 points, 12 clear of England on 60 and 20 ahead of South Africa on 52.

It took a few minutes for England to dust off the cob webs before scoring the ir first try but they still made some good breaks during the first couple of minutes of the match.  IRB Leading Points Scorer Ben Gollings was first on the score sheet followed by Strettle’s first of the match. The 22 year old from Warrington narrowly missed out on final selection for this month’s Commonwealth Games and soon impressed the 20,000 crowd with some speedy footwork.   Mathew Tait, crossed the line in the first half and with Strettle’s second coming just before half time, England led comfortably at the break 28-0. 

Despite the home support for Hong Kong, England continued their dominance and replacement Dan Luger scored early in the second half – his first of the season for England Sevens. Strettle scored his hat trick with three minutes to go, followed by a great run by Ben Russell of Saracens who also crossed the line. The final try of the match deservedly went to Strettle and with six successful conversions by Gollings England recorded a satisfying 52-0 win over the hosts.

Scorers:   England – Tries: Gollings, Strettle (4), Tait, Luger, Russell  Conversions – Gollings (6)

England – Ben Gollings, Ben Russell (Saracens), Ben Foden (Sale Sharks), Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons), David Strettle (Rotherham), Dan Luger, David Seymour (Saracens)

Replacements: Henry Paul (Gloucester), Nils Mordt (London Irish), Andy Vilk (Northampton Saints)

Replacements not used: Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Simon Amor, Captain (Gloucester)

Simon Amor when asked about the squad, venue and the silver medal won at the Commonwealth Games said....

"The squad we've got out here in Hong Kong is very youthful. I think nine of them haven't played in Hong Kong before, but it'll be a great experience for them.  "The atmosphere and crowd here his huge, you've got 40,000 people there, and the history and tradition all plays its part. The players who haven't played here have seen it on television, know the legacy and that's part of the appeal.

The atmosphere and crowd here his huge, you've got 40,000 people there, and the history and tradition all plays its part. The players who haven't played here have seen it on television, know the legacy and that's part of the appeal. England captain Simon Amor

"On reflection picking up the silver medal in Melbourne was a great achievement," Amor said, "something no England side had done before, but the Gold was our main objective so we're not quite sure whether we're happy or sad.

"Training in Bali was actually very tough. When you're training in 35 plus degrees and 97 percent humidity it's a tough place to put your body through, but it was a great way for us to put to bed what went on in Melbourne.  "We also really want to put right the disappointment of losing to Fiji here last year."

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