England claim London Sevens title in dramatic fashion
England claim London Sevens title in dramatic fashion
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Sunday, 24, May 2009 10:03
England won the London leg of the IRB Sevens World Series in brilliant sunshine at Twickenham today.
Close to 35,000 people enjoyed the carnival atmosphere in the capital as England emerged victorious in a dramatic final against New Zealand, winning 31-26.
Click here to read all the action as it unfolded throughout the day
The hosts went in to the weekend knowing nothing less than winning the entire competition would be good enough to prevent South Africa claiming their first Sevens World Series.
And things were looking bad at half-time in the final, with England finding themselves 19 - 0 down and potentially in real trouble.
A storming second half though saw England pull level with tries from Uche Oduoza Micky Young and James Rodwell.
The England faithful thought it had all been in vain, however, when Zar Lawrence broke through a series of tackles to score for the Kiwis with less than a minute left.
England weren't finished though and brilliant try from Dan Norton sprinting down the left wing and a conversion from Ben Gollings sent the final into extra-time.
Then in the sudden death period, Young dramatically became the hero. After England won a scrum against the head, he picked up the loose ball to dive over the line for the winning score.
England's victory means they are now 20 points behind South Africa in the overall standings going into the final leg of series in Edinburgh. The Springboks need only a single point to claim their maiden series victory, so England must hope they fail to make it to the quarter-finals while they repeat their heroics in London today.
Earlier in the day, Fiji won the plate tournament after beating Portugal in the final. In the bowl competition, the hugely popular Kenya team overcame Wales 12-5.
And in the Shield, an all North American final saw Canada triumph over their neighbours the USA 27-7.