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England Win Hong Kong Sevens Crown
By Kath 2/4/06 April 24 2006
England Sevens WIN in Hong Kong 2006. Ben Gollings the hero of the hour going in for a last minute try and dying seconds conversion. Congratulations to our England Sevens Team

England Sevens WIN in Hong Kong

England's Ben Gollings went over for a last minute try and conversion giving England the Crown in Hong Kong winning 26-24 against Fiji.   In a nerve wracking final, tries from  Tom Varndell, Matthew Tait and Gollings put England into the lead early on.  Fiji came back at England and the game as like many others recently went back and forth but Ben Gollings became the hero in the dying seconds of the game.

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Mike Friday England Sevens Coach had this to say:

"It was hammer and tongs all the way and we deserved to nick it,"   "Games are always tight against Fiji and we took our chances and our young guys didn't panic in a high-pressure environment.  "Ben Gollings came through for us and they will all benefit from this experience if they all move into their senior development.  "In a 20-minute final, you know that Fiji are going to come back - they've got a never-say-die attitude.

I was just in the right place at the right time  England's Ben Gollings  "As a spectacle, I think the crowd was very pleased with what they saw."

The victory takes England to 90 points overall in the IRB Sevens standings, just six points behind the Fijians on 96. South Africa lie on 70 points and New Zealand on 56.  Ben Gollings is also top Goal Scorer for the series with 51.

Like many other England players, Ben played down his heroics after the game

 "It wasn't major, I was just in the right place at the right time," he said.   "David Strettle got the ball to me and he created the opportunity for us to win.  "The victory is massive, and it is very crucial in the context that it narrows the gap between us and Fiji at the top of the standings.  "We were disappointed at not getting the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games last week and this definitely makes up for it - Hong Kong is the biggest Sevens tournament in the world."

Ben Gollings

Scorers: England – Tries: Varndell, Gollings (2), Tait. Conversions – Gollings (3)

 

England: Ben Gollings, Ben Russell (Saracens), David Seymour (Saracens), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Simon Amor, captain (Gloucester), Andy Vilk (Northampton Saints), Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons). placements: Henry Paul (Gloucester), David Strettle (Rotherham). Not used: Nils Mordt (London Irish), Ben Foden (Sale Sharks), Dan Luger

Congratulations to our England Sevens Team & Management

 

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