England clinch victory in Vancouver Rugby Sevens

England clinched their second win of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Canada on Sunday. In a thrilling final game against South African, they ran in three tries to one at BC Place, Vancouver. With wins in Dubai, Wellington, Sydney and Las Vegas under their belts, the South Africa Rugby 7s were well-placed to take their fifth trophy.

The Blitzboks began well with a try out on the left by speed merchant, Siviwe Soyizwapi. It was his fourth in the weekend of festival rugby played in front of over 76,000 fans.

England came back with a score from Richard de Carpentier on the other side of the pitch, storming through a couple of tackles as he crashed the line with the clock held at zero. With both tries converted it was seven points each going into the half time.

Dan Bibby scored England’s second try under the posts thanks to his superbly weighted fly kick down the middle of the pitch. Mitchell put over a simple drop goal, his second, to make it 14-7.

Dan Norton broke tackles and sprinted down the left touchline to get England’s third and his own 244th try, equalling Kenya’s Collins Injera’s record for most tries scored, ever, in the HSBC World Rugby Series competition. England controlled the ball in the closing moments of the game -some might say for too long- with a carefully crafted line out but it was enough to keep the lead.

As England celebrated their win in Vancouver, the coaching staff commented on how they were going to find a seat to get the big, beautiful Coastal First Nations cedar-carved trophy onto the plane back home. A nice problem to solve. Next stop in the series, Hong Kong, April 7-9.