England 31
Portugal 0

England put the disappointment of being knocked out of the Cup tournament to claim the Bowl trophy at the IRB Sevens in Murrayfield today.  England scored five tries to none from Portugal to take home the bowl for the second successive week.

England beat Portugal last weekend at Twickenham but put on a much stronger performance today to beat Portugal 31 0.  Two tries from Tom Williams of NEC Harlequins, one from Michael Hills (Sale Sharks) and two more from Noah Cato of Saracens meant that England went some way to improve on their poor performance yesterday.

Speaking after the tournament - which is the final leg of the IRB Sevens (which was won by New Zealand) - England Sevens Coach Ben Ryan said, "We got three good wins today against some good opposition but it is still disappointing that we are in the bowl.  We don't want to be playing in anything other than the Cup competition.  It was good to beat Australia as they are a strong side with Super 14 players and in a perverse kind of way I was pleased it went to extra time as it means the players are really tested. 

Danny Care has been outstanding this weekend and I was also pleased that Noah Cato got a brace of tries.

Now we will move onto next season and ensuring that we learn the lessons from this season and work on winning development which is what the sevens is all about.  Next year I hope to get the right balance of players and really develop some of the youngsters who have been blooded this season."

Tony Roques (Cornish All Blacks) who was captain in Simon Amor's absence said, "I am feeling really mixed emotions right now.  We performed really well in the final but I am frustrated that we left it until the final to show what we can do.  I am always incredibly proud to be captain although I was Simon had been able to be here as he brings so much to the side."

Ben Foden (Sale Sharks) said, "I had forgotten how physically tough and tiring sevens is - especially the second day!  I really enjoyed playing though and the change of scene has been great.  I always enjoy representing my country at whatever level and feel that I benefit from the pressure of playing against some of the best teams in the world."

England finished the IRB Sevens in fifth place.

England:
Tony Roques (Cornish All Blacks) captain, Charlie Amesbury (NEC Harlequins), Andy Vilk (Sale Sharks), Dave Seymour (Saracens), Ben Foden (Sale Sharks), Danny Care (NEC Harlequins), Tom Williams (NEC Harlequins)

Replacements: Noah Cato (Saracens), Danny Gray (Bristol), Michael Hills (Sale Sharks)

Not used: Rob Thirlby (Redruth), Isoa Damu (Newbury / British Army)

Scorers:

England - Tries: Williams (2), Hills, Cato (2)

Conversions: Care (2), Gray

Ends.