England 61
Sri Lanka 0

England showed good form in their second pool game match against Sri Lanka in Melbourne today, scoring nine tries, including a hat-trick from Newcastle Falcons youngster Mathew Tait.

Dave Seymour kick started England’s try bonanza followed by a dazzling try from Tait. Richard Haughton showed good defence and turned a charge down into a try for England. Seymour scored again before half time meaning England led 26-0 at the break.

England upped their pace in the second half with a second try for following a five-metre scrum to England. Tom Varndell came on for Haughton and it wasn’t long before he added to the score sheet with two quick tries himself. His second was thanks to a great effort by leading IRB Sevens Points Scorer Ben Gollings, who defended a stray Sri Lanka ball well to give England possession. Varndell was on course for a hat-trick but passed at the last minute to Nils Mordt (London Irish), who also took his own conversion. A final try for Tait, his third, meant that England cruised to victory over the Sri Lankans 61-0.

Scorers:

England: Tries – Seymour (2), Tait (3), Haughton, Varndell (2), Mordt

Conversions: Gollings (6), Mordt, Care

Team:
England – Dave Seymour (Saracens), Ben Gollings, Ben Russell (Saracens), Danny Care (Leeds Tykes), Richard Haughton (Saracens), Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons), Nils Mordt (London Irish)

Replacements: Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Henry Paul (Gloucester)

Not used: Andy Vilk (Northampton Saints), Simon Amor, captain (Gloucester)

England 35
Cook Islands 5

England’s sevens players took a few minutes to find their form in their opening Commonwealth Games match in Melbourne today but comfortably beat the islanders 35-5. 
 
The players seemed a bit nervous for the first couple of minutes, with some errors handing the Cook Islands possession in the early part of the match. Leicester speedster Tom Varndell finally broke through to cross the line and Ben Gollings successfully converted. A second try by Henry Paul (Gloucester), also converted, meant that England led 14-0 at the break.

England looked more assured after the break and Saracens’ Dave Seymour crossed the line, followed by Sale Sharks’ Magnus Lund, who was making his first return to international sevens since 2003. 
 
Despite a last-minute tackle by replacement Richard Haughton (Saracens), the Islanders managed to score but failed to convert.  England retaliated with a try from 19 year old Leeds Tykes scrum half Danny Care (who replaced captain Simon Amor, Gloucester) just as the hooter sounded. A fifth successful conversion by Gollings meant that England finished 35-5 winners.

Try-scorer Henry Paul admitted that it was good to get a match under the team’s belts, “We have been together as a squad for a few days but not played a match, so it always takes a few minutes to find ourselves. The first match is always a bit of a blow out for the guys as well as we haven’t played sevens for a few weeks. The Cook Islands were a bit of an unknown entity, and they never gave up.  It was good to play them first and be tested. They showed we have a lot to work on for our later matches.”

The tournament is being staged in the Telstra Dome which has a closed roof.  Henry admitted that the closed roof made the conditions quite hard for the players, “It was hot out there and quite muggy. You run and try and catch your breath and there isn’t much air. It will take some getting used to. It will be a team with good endurance who wins this tournament.”

The stadium is filling up gradually during the day, but there is already a large number of Australian supporters. Henry said, “There isn’t much love out there for England but we knew that and didn’t expect any!”
 
Scorers:
England: Tries – Varndell, Paul, Semour, Lund, Care
Conversions – Gollings (5)
 
Team:
England – Simon Amor, captain (Gloucester), Henry Paul (Gloucester), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Dave Seymour (Saracens), Ben Gollings, Magnus Lund (Sale Sharks), Andy Vilk (Northampton Saints)
Replacements: Ben Russell (Saracens), Danny Care (Leeds Tykes), Richard Haughton (Saracens)
Not used: Mathew Tait (Newcastle Falcons), Nils Mordt (London Irish)

England Sevens coach Mike Friday was pleased with the team’s effort so far. “We are building nicely and I am pleased to have two from two. I am a bit disappointed with a few things and there is definitely work to do but this is a good stepping stone towards the big match against Australia tonight.  The Australians have some quality players but we have some talented youngsters and they are relishing the challenge of playing against Australia on their home turf in front of such a big crowd.  This will be a seriously big match for us.”