March 28, 2008

Dream debut for Cox

England 24-12 Canada

Matt Cox (Worcester Warriors) helped England to secure victory over Canada tonight by scoring a try on his debut for England Sevens at the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens.

Cox who came on as a replacement during the second half scored a last minute try to secure the victory for his team. England got off to a shaky start conceding a try in the third minute but before long they were in their stride. Northampton Saints’ John Brake was first over the line flying past two Canadian defenders with a confident finish. England would have been 12-7 up before the brake with Simon Hunt (Ebbw Hunt) catching a loose ball to cross the line but it was disallowed.

England came back in the second half with two tries early on being scored by Chris Mayor (Sale Sharks) and number one IRB Sevens points scorer Ben Gollings (Sunnybank). England defended well towards the end of the game which paid off.

Said Coach Ben Ryan, “I’m relieved; all the hard work that these guys have put in this week has paid off. We have the potential, this is a new side and they did really well. I’m glad this one is out the way and we can look ahead to tomorrow.”

Said Matt Cox, “I can’t explain how it feels to play here in front of thousands of fans, the atmosphere is amazing, when I scored the try all I could here was the crowd. I can’t put how I feel into words it feels like a huge caffeine boost!”

England play Sri Lanka tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:58 local time (GMT+8)

England: Chris Mayor (Sale Sharks), John Brake (Northampton Saints), Anthony Elliott (Bristol Rugby), Andrew Vilk (captain, Sale Sharks), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Gollings (Sunnybank), Simon Hunt (Ebbw Vale).

England scorers: Brake (t), Mayor (t), Golllings (t,2c), Cox (t)

Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens Pool fixtures:

March 29 – England v Sri Lanka, KO 11:58am (local time, GMT+8)

March 29 – Samoa v England, KO 6:34pm (local time, GMT+8)

Ends