Northampton Saints - News : Try in the final for Vilk but no gold

17 March 2006, 11:34 am

Try in the final for Vilk but no gold

Andy Vilk with his Commonwealth silver medal and team mates David Seymour, Nils Mordt and Tom Varndell

Northampton Saints' Andy Vilk managed to score a try in this monring's Commonwealth Games sevens final but still lost out on gold to New Zealand by 21 pojnts to 29. Vilk and his England colleagues will have to be content with silver, which is a marked improvement on going out at the quarter-final stage in the last games in 2002. This is the third time in a row the All Blacks sevens side has taken gold at the Commonwealth Games. Saints' stand-in captian Bruce Reihana won gold in 2002 and 1998.

Vilk said: "A medal is great but its not the colour we wanted. It was a huge effort for the boys and full credit to New Zealand who came out firing. The crowd was awesome - a very intense atmosphere which you just had to feed off.

"I was pleased to come on as its hard being on the bench in those kind of circumstances, you are just dying to get on. Its one of the biggest games of your career and you are standing there willing to get on. So I was thrilled to get on and pleased to score - it was exactly what I wanted to do. I hadn't scored all tournament and I was dying to do it and make that impact and contribution. The whole experience was unbelievable and it will take a while to sink in."

Mike Friday, England Sevens coach, said: "�We have a massive mixture of emotions right now. Normally you don�t get anything for losing a final so it feels bit strange. We came here for gold and the boys set their standards very high.

"They are young lads and a number of them have taken massive steps forward in their development over the past few days which is a great thing. From that perspective the tournament has undoubtedly been a success. We have had the re-emergence of Mathew Tait for the world to see, Tom Varndell has come on a lot and then the likes of Dave Seymour and Magnus Lund to name but a few have been outstanding.

"I can�t fault the boys in terms of their commitment and the way they conducted themselves on and off the pitch, in often very pressurized environments. The New Zealanders just edged it a bit in the final and deserved to win.

"We have certainly seen a number of young stars lay down a marker for the next 18 months. I hope that everyone who has been watching back home sees that the future is bright for England rugby. There are alot of talented youngsters who will come to the fore over the next year, and we need to give these young players time and nurturing and hopefully they will progress to be full stars for England in the future."

England star of the tournament, Mathew Tait said: ""I am feeling real mixed emotions right now. I am so disappointed that we didn't win gold. I am pleased with how I played in the tournament but to be honest I would swap all of that for a gold medal right now.

"It was an incredible experience from start to finish. The crowd were amazing and the sheer scale of it was like something I have never experienced before. I have had loads of texts from back home and my mum just called and was crying down the phone as she was really proud which is nice. It's definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life."