England 21

Australia 26

Any hopes England had of putting right their recent wrongs and claiming some silverware in Australia disappeared when they lost to the hosts in the Plate semi final in Adelaide.

England’s performance had been mixed throughout the tournament with an impressive victory over Fiji last night forgotten after this morning’s loss to Kenya.  England are now out of the tournament and will have to wait until the Emirates Airline London Sevens at Twickenham (26^th & 27^th May) to make amends.

England got off to a reasonable start with an early try by Danny Care (NEC Harlequins).  There was good possession in the opening minutes but at this level a team cannot afford to make mistakes and Australia managed to cross the line and even the score.

Playing in front of their home crowd meant there was loud support for Australia but England were disappointing.  Shawn Mackay gave Australia their second try and just moments later Anthony Sauer joined him on the score sheet meaning Australia led 21 7 at half time.

England’s loss to Kenya seemed to have knocked their confidence but they did come back slightly stronger in the second half with an early try for the powerful Isoa Damudamu.  However, with the crowd behind them Australia were not going to give up that easily and Sauer scored his second soon after.

A great chance for Danny Care to score again slipped by when the Australian defence stepped up a gear.  He did manage to break through and cross the line but there was just 35 seconds left to play before the Australians kicked the ball out and the match was over.

Scorers:

England – Tries: Care (2), Damu

Conversions: Amor (3)

Australia – Tries: Sauer (2), Lew, Mackay

Conversions: Lucas (3)

England: Simon Amor, captain (London Wasps), Danny Care (NEC Harlequins), Isoa Damudamu (Newbury Blues / British Army), Charlie Amesbury (NEC Harlequins), Tony Roques (Exeter Chiefs), Michael Hills (Sale Sharks), Jack Adams (Gloucester)

Reps: John Brake (Northampton Saints), Ben Russell (Saracens), David Doherty (London Wasps)

Not used: Andy Vilk (Sale Sharks), James Brooks (London Wasps)

Australia: Shawn Mackay, Luke Inman, Anthony Sauer, James Lew, Luke Milton, Tim Atkinson, Ben Lucas

Reps from: Viliame Ratu, Tim Wright, Nick Cummins, Nathan Trist, Tim Cornforth

Referee: T HIRABAYASHI (JAP)

Ends.

EARLIER....

England 12

Kenya 17

If there had been another minute to play it may have been a different story, but it was too little too late for England as they lost to Kenya and were knocked out of the Cup competition in the IRB Australia Sevens.  Kenya controlled the game and England were forced to play catch up, failing to take advantage of several opportunities.  The defeat means England now play in the Plate competition.

Kenya executed their game plan from the start maintaining early possession and capitalising with a try in the first minute.  England came back and attacked well with a good break by 18 year old John Brake (Northampton Saints).  He passed out to Isoa Damudamu who managed to score England’s first try.

England’s defence were tested as Kenya upped their attack, and their speed on the pitch outshone that of England.  Simiyu scored despite Ben Russell hanging onto his foot as he crossed the line.

England had a chance before the break but were unable to convert it into a try and the score at half time was 7 12 to Kenya.

Simiyu managed to score again and the gap widened.  England failed to get possession for much of the second half but when they did, a great break by James Brooks and Charlie Amesbury helped set up a try for Damu (his second).

England’s biggest advantage came next when Kenya went down to six men following Ocholla’s sin binning, but England couldn’t score. 

In the last play of the game it looked as if England would come back when they won a line out but Kenya’s defence was just too strong and the match, and England’s Cup hopes, was over.

England Sevens Coach Ben Ryan was disappointed by the change in performance from his team, “I just don’t understand how the same seven players could play so flawlessly against Fiji last night and beat the world champions, and then go out there today and play so badly.  There are not many positives to come out of it but every single one of them will learn from this.  They are hurting right now and will remember how that feels.  Now we must try and pick ourselves up and focus on the Plate competition.”

England face Australia in the semi final of the Plate at 3.12pm local / 6.42am BST.

Scorers:

England – Tries: Damu (2)

Conversions: Amor

Kenya – Tries: Simiyu (2), Omondi

Conversions: Simiyu

England: Simon Amor, captain (London Wasps), Danny Care (NEC Harlequins), John Brake (Northampton Saints), Isoa Damudamu (Newbury Blues / British Army), Charlie Amesbury (NEC Harlequins), Ben Russell (Saracens), Andy Vilk (Sale Sharks)

Reps: James Brooks (London Wasps)

Not used: Michael Hills (Sale Sharks), Tony Roques (Exeter Chiefs), David Doherty (London Wasps), Jack Adams (Gloucester)

Kenya: I. Simiyu, Omondi, Ogolla, Kayange, N. Simiyu, Ocholla, Mwanja

Reps from: Sadat, Otieno, Adema, Injera, Onyango

Referee: A Lindsay (AUS)

Ends.