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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:03:24:11:59:46 by Kath..

BEN RYAN says his England side are in good shape going into the sixth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Hong Kong and ready to continue their climb up the series table.

England are recovering from an injury-hit start to the campaign but logged a first tournament victory of the season in New Zealand leg of the tour last month.

They face 2010 series winners Samoa in their opening Pool C match on Friday, then tackle Scotland and Portugal on Saturday before the knockout stages the following day.

England haven't won Hong Kong since 2006, but have played well in So Kon Po in recent seasons – reaching a final and a semi-final in the last two outings – without going all the way.

Head coach Ryan said: “This is our seventh Hong Kong under me. We have had 18 pool games and won 17 of them and in the last four years we have lost in the final as well as to the eventual winners in the semi and quarter finals, so whoever has beaten England has gained huge amounts of confidence and gone on to win the title.

“We have had some tough times in Hong Kong and you learn all the time from that and make sure next time you come here you come stronger and we will start well against Samoa and get some momentum. I’m not worried about anybody we play against, but we have a great deal of respect for every team on the circuit. One thing that we are asked is ‘what do you need to do to take out tournaments and get success?’ We have to make sure we are as good as we can be and make sure we get our A game in place.”

The physicality of the Pacific Islanders makes them a tough opponent but Ryan is confident the team can work around that and play their own game.

“The lads call the games against the Samoans “man tests “, where you have got to front up physically, and dominate the collisions - an area that they really pride themselves on. If it were a boxing match we would be in a different weight category. You have to box clever against them but at the same time you have got to avoid the conflict, keep the ball against Samoa and you have got to negate their kick-off.

“They play a wide, wide game and keep big men in the wide channels and when we have got the ball you have got to be clever with it we have got to find the space and exploit it.”

England reel off three wins on last day of Hong Kong Sevens


John Brake scored twice in the win over France

ENGLAND reeled off three impressive victories to ease some of their pain on the final day of the Cathay Pacific HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.

They overpowered France 42-7 and South Africa 26-14 – fifth and second in the HSBC Sevens World Series respectively – and then cruised past hosts Hong Kong 42-7 to win the Bowl competition.

The performances were completely at odds with the pool stage defeats against Samoa and Scotland forced them out of the Cup quarter final places.

And the challenge is now for England to hit the ground running in the seventh leg of the series in Tokyo next weekend.

“We weren’t particularly bothered who we played today,” said Head Coach Ben Ryan. “It was all about us and about putting in a performance and setting the bar to the right standard.

“I want the standard to be higher and I’m hoping there’s permanent change now because our first two games weren’t good enough.

“The one thing we demand is consistency of performance and I’m hoping now that we have the potential to do that and finish the season on a high.”

England blew France away in their opening Day Three game, eventually running in six tries after swamping Les Bleus in the first half.

There were two apiece for Dan Norton and John Brake with Marcus Watson and substitute Mike Ellery also touching down. Christian Lewis-Pratt stroked over all six conversions.

England had to dig deeper against South Africa – the champions in Las Vegas last month – after trailing 14-0 to tries from Justin Geduld and Branco Du Preez.

Watson’s outstanding solo score hauled them back to 14-7 down at half time before England’s substitutes all made an impact off the bench.

Ellery was involved in the build-up of a great passage of play before going over for England’s second try, skipper Vickerman pounced on an error from the kick-off that followed for the third and Watson struck again after South Africa’s scrum crumbled late on.

The 40,000 capacity crowd roaring on the home side were quickly silenced when Brake’s quick thinking earned him two early tries with Vickerman also ploughing over and Norton streaking the length of the field in pursuit of Lewis-Pratt’s kick out of defence to strike.

Ellery completed his impressive first tournament outing with the fifth and Sam Edgerley added a sixth after Rowan Varty had touched down for the hosts.

Vickerman added: “We’ve got to make this our minimum standard. Every game we play, if we play with the same tenacity, commitment and energy, then it will perpetuate itself. Hopefully it will give everyone here and back home something to cheer about.

“This game is all about possession and momentum and if you have that then you’ve always got a chance. I’d like to think the consistency we’ll show from now on will help us climb the table.”