Saturday 4th February 2006
England 14 Argentina 10
England won the Plate Final in the Wellington Sevens to ensure that they didn’t leave this notoriously hostile tournament empty handed. The win gives England eight points from the tournament and goes someway to combat the disappointment of losing to France in the quarter finals.

England looked the more comfortable side in the first half with tries from Andy Vilk and Mathew Tait giving them a 14 0 lead early on.  However, the Argentineans are always an unpredictable side and they came back with a try from Francisco Bosch.
Much of the first half was fast and furious with both teams showing equal strength in attack and defence.

The second half was just as tense with England coming close to scoring when Andy Vilk was tackled just as he neared the try line. The Pumas scored again however when captain Pablo Gomez Cora crossed the try line meaning the scores were agonizingly close for the few England fans in the 30,000 full stadium.

England had one last chance to score when David Strettle broke for the line but was tackled inches from scoring in the final moments of the match.  In the end it did not matter as the hooter went awarding England the win.

England Sevens Coach Mike Friday said, “The win shows that the players were professional enough to apply themselves after the defeat and take the opportunity to secure an extra four points in the series which could prove to be very valuable. They all learned a lesson today that a few little errors can make all the difference and cost you dearly. Their core skills, their preparation and how they handle themselves at all times needs to be spot on.

“The players realized that you don’t have the right to win any game, and it was good to see the squad apply themselves, especially from the youngsters.”

England had three new caps in the squad in Wellington, and Friday is confident that all 12 players will have benefited from the experience. “This is a very difficult environment to play in as we have been saying all week. For the majority of them it will have been the biggest and certainly most vocal crowd they have ever encountered. They faced a lot of pressure out there and your performance is magnified. I was pleased that the players took the opportunity to go out there and express themselves, and show the world what they can do.”

Fiji won the Cup Final taking them 16 points clear of second placed England in the IRB Sevens table. Friday said, “We need to concentrate on what we need to do and not worry about Fiji. There is a long way still to go in this tournament. We have to learn from every little mistake we made and make sure that we improve as a squad.  These boys are more than capable of going to Los Angeles (the next leg of the IRB Sevens), but they have to be prepared to apply themselves at all times.”

Scorers:
England – Tries: Vilk, Tait
Conversions – Amor (2)

Argentina – Tries: F Bosch, Gomez Cora