A 17-12 victory over Spain in the play-offs saw a young England Women’s side finish fifth in the Amsterdam Sevens on Sunday.

With only six players in the squad who lifted the IRB Challenge Cup crown in London last weekend, England struggled in the second day of sevens action leaving them to play off against Spain for fifth place.

England, however, showed great determination to secure the fifth place finish against a full strength Spanish side with a try in extra time from Sevens newcomer Kate Hancock. Fellow Sevens debutant Natasha Brennan also touched down twice, with Natasha Hunt kicking one conversion.

England were left battling for fifth place after losing 7-12 to the USA in the final pool game on Saturday. England had started the day well with a 24-0 victory over Wales. Lichfield’s Hunt ran in a hat-trick of tries and Jennifer Brightmore also touched down. Sarah McKenna added four points from the boot.

In England’s second match they were as dominant, inflicting a 26-0 victory over South Africa. This time Brennan, Rachael Burford, captain Sonia Green and Abigail Chamberlain touched down. Alice Richardson and Hunt added three conversions.

But in their final encounter on Saturday the young England side struggled against the on-form Eagles. Brennan touched down for her second try of the tournament and Richardson converted but two tries from the USA and a conversion was too much for England to overcome.

The first day’s results meant England faced a tough second pool round on Sunday pitting them against hosts Netherlands, London finalists last weekend, and then IRB Challenge Cup winner in Dubai Canada.

England couldn’t break the Netherlands this time around and instead the hosts ran in three tries and England had no reply.

Next up was Canada, and England picked up the pace to hold the full strength Canadian side to a 12-12 draw, with Burford and McKenna scoring. McKenna also added one conversion, but the draw was not enough to keep England in contention and they had to settle for the fifth/sixth play-off final.

England Women’s Sevens Head Coach Barry Maddocks (pictured) said: “We are obviously disappointed to finish fifth but at the same time this has been a tremendous learning experience for our young squad.

“The likes of Natasha Brennan, Kate Hancock, Emily Scott, Leanne Riley and Katie Mason have been exposed to top level international sevens rugby over the last two days, playing against some of the world’s best players in Canada and the USA, and that is only going to benefit their game in the long run.

“It was disappointing that we suffered such a heavy defeat this morning against the Netherlands. It was a game we struggled to get up for, but we bounced back against Canada and held them to a draw. We can also take a lot of positives from our final game against Spain.”

Amsterdam Sevens Day 1 Results

England  24 Wales 0

Tries: Hunt (3), Brightmore

Conversions: McKenna (2)

England 26 South Africa 0

Tries: Brennan, Burford, Green, Chamberlain

Conversions: Richardson (2), Hunt

England  7 USA 12

Tries: Brennan

Conversions: Richardson

Amsterdam Sevens Day 2 Results

England 0 Netherlands 17

England 12 Canada 12

Tries: Burford, McKenna

Conversions: McKenna

England 17 Spain 12

Tries: Brennan (2), Hancock

Conversions: Hunt

England Sevens Squad  

Abigail            Chamberlain(Richmond)

Natasha         Brennan        (Wasps)

Jennifer         Brightmore    (Worcester)

Rachael         Burford           (Richmond)

Sonia             Green (C)      (Saracens)

Kate    Hancock        (Plymouth Albion (on loan to Worcester))

Natasha         Hunt   (Lichfield)

Katie   Mason            (Bristol)

SarahMcKenna       (Wasps)

Alice   Richardson   (Richmond)

Leanne          Riley   (Saracens)

Emily  Scott   (Thurrock)

Toulouse may be leading Harlequins by two points in Pool 6 in the Heineken Cup, but unless they win at Kingsholm against Gloucester on Friday night they could possibly find themselves heading into the Amlin Challenge Cup last eight.

The five Pool winners in the Amlin Challenge Cup earn quarter-final places, and going into the final round, the winners of all five Pools have yet to be decided. The final three places in the knockout stages are filled by the third, fourth and fifth best Pool runners-up from the Heineken Cup.

Only Munster and reigning champions Leinster are so far guaranteed Heineken Cup quarter-final tickets, so there will be the usual number of twists and turns to come in the over the next few days.

There will also be plenty of drama from Thursday onwards in the Amlin Challenge Cup with two clubs in each of the five Pools still in contention for top spot. The most dramatic weekend of action in European rugby will kick-off at Edgeley Park on Thursday night when two-time tournament winners Sale Sharks host former Heineken Cup holders Brive.

That will be the first of 22 fixtures across the two tournaments that will determine which 16 clubs move forward to chase the top two titles in northern hemisphere club rugby.

As well as Toulouse, two more Heineken Cup winners, Ulster Rugby (1999) and Leicester Tigers (2001, 2002), as well as the Ospreys, could conceivably make their Amlin Challenge Cup debuts depending on results.

“Since we launched the system of three Heineken Cup runners-up joining the Amlin Challenge Cup Pool winners in the quarter-finals the quality has certainly risen. To add to that, the winners of the Amlin Challenge Cup are assured of a place in next season’s Heineken Cup,” said ERC Chief Executive, Derek McGrath.

AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP POOL BATTLES

Pool 1 – Stade Français Paris or Worcester Warriors
Stade Français Paris lead Worcester Warriors by four points. Warriors must win and deny Stade anything to bring the equation down to tries or aggregate points in their two games, or they must win with a try bonus point and once again deny Stade a losing bonus.

Pool 2 – Toulon or Newcastle Falcons
Toulon have a two point advantage over Falcons and lead them in the head-to-head. Toulon host Petrarca Rugby in Round 6 and Falcons travel to Lyon. A Toulon win will be enough to secure the Pool winners spot, as will be a draw if Falcons don’t earn a bonus point victory in Lyon.

Pool 3 – London Wasps or Bayonne
London Wasps lead by two points from Bayonne, but are down 2-1 on tries in the head-to-head. That means they need to beat Bordeaux-Begles at home in Round 6 to guarantee a quarter-final place. Bayonne host Rovigo and can go through with a draw or a win, as long as Wasps fail to earn any points.

Pool 4 – Exeter Chiefs or Perpignan
Exeter Chiefs are one point ahead of Perpignan and have a precious losing bonus point from their game there in France in Round 1. They host the French side in a winner-takes-all clash at Sandy Park.

Pool 5 – Brive or Sale Sharks
Brive head to Edgeley Park on Thursday night knowing they need to get at least a losing bonus point to top the Pool. A win or draw will send them into the last eight, while two-time winners the Sharks need to go for broke and win without conceding a bonus point to overcome the three point gap at the top.

Defending champions Crosshaven, the first Munster club to win the title, have been drawn away to Ulster side Cooke in the opening round. Last season’s beaten finalists Monivea will make the trip to Skerries while previous winners Tullamore have been drawn at home to Kilfeacle.

The Ulster Bank Junior Cup has proved hugely popular with clubs and supporters and the cup finals have provided some dramatic rugby action since the competition began.

A number of previous winners have gone on to gain promotion to the Ulster Bank League including Rainey OB, Seapoint, Navan and City of Derry.

Ulster Bank Junior Cup 1^st Round, Saturday October 22nd
Tullamore V Kilfeacle
Portadown V Westport
Coolmine V Tralee
Coleraine V Tuam
Skerries V Monivea
Academy V Richmond
Cooke V Crosshaven
Dundalk V Ballina

2^nd Round – November 26^th
Semi Finals – February 4^th
Final – February 18^th

Batting Esher slipped to a 24-17 reverse at Old Deer Park and have now lost eight successive games in league and cup.

But Director of Rugby Schmid was delighted with the attitude shown in the local derby as they picked up a losing bonus point at fourth-placed Exiles.

Esher fought back from 13-0 down at half-time to score tries through Sam Ulph and Chris York and were unlucky not to salvage a draw.

Now Schmid wants the same commitment in the bottom-of-the-table Championship match against Birmingham at Molesey Road this weekend.

Esher lost 38-16 at Birmingham in October in one of their poorest displays of the season and Schmid insists there must be no repeat.

He said: “We were very poor at Birmingham and that came after a wonderful win against London Welsh, so it was doubly disappointing.

“But if we show the same attitude that we did on Tuesday then I’m sure we can end this run of defeats.

“In both games against Welsh we have shown glimpses of what we can achieve with the right attitude and commitment.

“Now we must make sure we build on that against Birmingham”

“We all know this is a must-win game against Birmingham and it gives us a chance to put distance between us and them.

“Every win will be vital when we go into the play-offs at the end of the season. If we can beat Birmingham then we still have six more games to get into the top eight and that is still our target.”

Esher edged six points clear of rock-bottom Birmingham with the point at Welsh and are now nine adrift of eighth-placed Bristol.

But Schmid added: “We’ve let a few points slip this season and we know we have to be at our best to get something from games.

“If we show any complacency against Birmingham then we will lose, it’s as simple as that.

“But, as we showed at London Welsh on Tuesday, we are capable of producing some good rugby but we must do that for the whole 80 minutes.

“It’s all about consistency and if we find that, then we are capable of getting a good run going. That has to start against Birmingham.”

With a number of forwards taking late fitness tests, Director of Rugby Lynn Howells will select his pack from the following squad:
Shane Cahill, Stuart Corsar, Dan Frazier, Lewis Thiede, Steve Boden, Tom Doughty, Glen Kenworthy, Matt Challinor, Dom Parsons Ed, Jackson, Neil Cochrane, Andy Boyde, Chris Walker and Zack Farivarz

We will attempt a website update as early as possible on Matchday announcing the selected forwards, alongside the backs that have already been given the starting Jerseys.

The backs will be

9 Hallam
10 Roberts
11 Williams
12 Gidlow
13 Briers
14 Flockhart
15 McColl

The backs’ subs will be (21) Peter Jericevich and (22) OliGoss.

At a televised launch event in Sydney, new SANZAR CEO-designate, Greg Peters, unveiled the new name, logo and colours that will underpin the rollout of Super Rugby across all three SANZAR territories and around the world via SANZAR’s broadcast partners.

“For the first time since its inception in 1996, Super Rugby will take on a whole new look in 2011,” said Mr Peters.

“The fifteen teams will take part in a three-conference format which will see all of the teams in each conference tackle each other home and away; supplemented with inter-conference games and culminating in a new, six-team finals series.

“We believe this competition will deliver even more of what our fans in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are telling us that they love about Super Rugby including more local derbies, intense cross-conference competition and the expanded final series with the guarantee of a home final for each of the conference winners.”

Mr Peters was joined for the launch by players from some of the Australian franchises including the new Melbourne Rebels franchise.

And the new-look competition format and the draw for 2011 were revealed underlining the depth and intensity of competition that will take place within the conferences, and across all 15 teams in the new competition window which will reach its peak with the Final in July 2011.

“These changes promise to take Super Rugby to a whole new level. For all of our fans and especially our younger fans who look forward seeing all of their heroes taking the field in their local colours, 2011 will be a big year in prospect.”

New Competition Format

The Super Rugby competition will not only expand to 15 teams in 2011, it will also undergo a significant format revamp.

A new three-Conference system will be in place where the five teams within each country will make up nationally-based Conferences and play their four “local” rivals on a home and away basis (eight games in total).

They will also play four of the other five teams in each of the other two Conferences on a home or away basis (another eight games).

This leads to an overall program of 16 games per team in the regular season, as opposed to the current 13 – and separate Australian Conference, South African Conference and New Zealand Conference tables will chart the fortunes of teams in each country.

A three-week finals series involving six teams – as opposed to the current two-week playoffs for four teams – will further increase the length of the season.

At the end of the regular season matches, the top team in each Conference will qualify for the finals.

The other three teams to qualify will be the sides with the most number of competition points – regardless in which Conference they are based.

The Conference winners are also ensured of a home finals match. Therefore, at least one finals match will be played in each country each year.

Super Rugby Snapshot

An increase in overall matches from 94 to 125 (an increase of 33%)

A 50% increase in the length of the season in non-World Cup years – from 16 weeks to 24 weeks

A 31% increase in the length of the season in World Cup years – from 16 weeks to 21 weeks

40 Super Rugby regular season matches played in each country each season as opposed to 26 in Australia under the Super 14 structure and 32 or 33 in South Africa and New Zealand

There will be 20 regular season local derbies in each country as opposed to six in Australia, 10 in South Africa and10 in New Zealand under the Super 14 format

Half of all regular season matches will be local derbies

Each team will play 12 of its 16 regular-season games within its own country – with only four matches overseas

Finals Series

The top team in each Conference will automatically advance to the finals in positions 1, 2 or 3 (depending on their individual competition points totals)

The other three teams to advance will be those with the highest number of competition points outside of the Conference winners

The teams qualifying in 4th, 5th and 6th can come from any Conference – they could all come from one Conference

Worcester continue their early dominance of the Championship  with a hard fought win over Rotherham, running out 32-25 winners. Second placed Bedford Blues made up for their loss last week with a resounding defeat of Esher. Their 31-9 win was the biggest win of the weekend and underlines Mike Rayer’s team’s steady progress.

Meanwhile wins for London Welsh, Nottingham, and Doncaster, together with an away draw for Cornish Pirates at Mosely shook the table up, although Birmingham and Solihull remain fixed to the foot of the table.

England's Tom Varndell in action at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne

England will face Australia in the pool stages of the Rugby Sevens at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi in what coach Ben Ryan describes as “the tastiest match in the qualifying round”. The 2006 silver medallists have been placed in Pool D with the Wallabies, Namibia and Sri Lanka for the tournament that takes place on October 11 and 12 this year. England were beaten 29-21 in the Melbourne final four years ago when New Zealand claimed their third gold medal following their wins at Manchester (2002) and Kuala Lumpur (1998).

“It brings it all to life now the draw has been made and it will concentrate our minds on the task in hand and what we need to do over the two days to finish top of the pile at the Commonwealth Games,” said England Sevens head coach Ryan.

“Over the years we’ve had the upper hand against Australia but this season just gone they’ve put together a side equal to any in the world. The scoreline from the last IRB Sevens World Series reads won two, lost two, drawn one which shows you how tight it’s been. It’s going to be an absolute ding-dong in Delhi and it’s the tastiest match-up in the qualifying round.

“It’s also good to be playing sides we haven’t met before in the pool stages. We’ve never played Namibia before as far as I know and last played Sri Lanka a couple of years ago in Hong Kong.

“One of the most exciting things is being part of a larger Team England. Building relationships, seeking advice and sharing knowledge with other sports is something we’ve been doing for a while and to be able to go to the Commonwealth Games with them all will be a great experience.”

New Zealand are in Pool A, where they will face opening matches against World Series regulars Scotland and Canada as well as Caribbean champions Guyana.

South Africa, the 2002 bronze medallists, head Pool B and face opening ties against Wales, Tonga and the host nation India.

IRB Sevens World Series champions Samoa top Pool C and take on Kenya, Uganda and Papua New Guinea.

England will announce their training squad for the Commonwealth Games later this month.

Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens, October 11-12

• Pool A: New Zealand, Scotland, Canada, Guyana
• Pool B: South Africa, Wales, Tonga, India
• Pool C: Samoa, Kenya, Uganda, Papua New Guinea
• Pool D: England, Australia, Namibia, Sri Lanka

Craig Hill raced over in the first half and Lee Rees scored in the second period to lead Wales’s charge to a 14-5 victory over Russia in a hard fought final. Gareth Rees banged over two conversions to complete the scoring for Wales.

Russia rallied late on to score through Lev Sleptsov but it proved too little too late as Wales picked up their second title in two weeks.

En route to the final Wales swept aside the challenge of Tunisia 33-0 in the quarter-final before brushing aside the rapidly improving Portugal 24-7 in the semis.

After being knocked out of the main draw after finishing their pool in third place behind New Zealand and Samoa, Wales were looking to assert their authority in the Bowl competition.

In the quarter-final bowl against Tunisia there was only one side in it. Wales led 19-0 at the break thanks to tries by Justin Tiperic, Ashley Beck and Ifan Evans.

Wales suffered a setback when Chris Davies was sin binned in first minute of second half but tries by Alex Cuthbert and Gareth Davies ensured passage through to the semis.

Portugal put up a tougher fight in the semi-final and held Wales to a 5-0 lead after a Cuthbert try. But Wales stepped up a gear in the second spell and got the perfect start when Davies scampered over. Goncalo Foro hit back with Diogo Miranda adding the extras but Justin Tiperic put the issue beyond doubt with two smartly taken tries.

Wales coach Paul John was a delighted man after guiding his young side to their second success within seven days.

“Let’s be realistic, we’ve got eight brand new players in the squad. Eight players who have not played sevens tournament rugby before. But this bunch of youngsters have grown and grown tremendously on and off the field.

“They have pushed all the sides really close over the first two tournaments. We’ve played all the big teams over the past couple of weeks except for Kenya and England and to be fair, they have done themselves proud.

“We’ve got a lot more points than we did this time last year, so we’ve exceeded expectations from the first two tournaments so they can take confidence from what they have achieved.

“They have won both Bowls comfortably and two win two Bowls is difficult. They’ve shown they have the potential to get into the semi-finals of the main draw.”

As the only school guaranteed a place in both cup quarter-finals, the pair joined Scotland co-captain and former Schools Cup finalist, Mike Blair, at Murrayfield today to draw the semi-final of the flagship schools tournament.

The pair drew a home and an away tie a-piece and are relishing the prospect of a potential double-header derby against local rivals George Heriot’s should their under-18s knock out Galashiels Academy and their under-15s see off Kelvinside Academy.

A losing finalist in last season’s under-18 final, inside-centre, Michael Crawley, plans to use Scotland’s dramatic win over Australia as inspiration to lay his finals-day demons to rest.

He said: “I thought the Scotland game was really inspiring, it was good to get Scotland’s crowd backing the team. It was very motivational.

“It showed that you just can’t ever give up and if you put one hundred percent in and push your body to its limits then you are going to get a good outcome – obviously our team can learn a lot from that.

“I’m quite confident. I definitely feel we’ve got the potential to get to the final.”

Henderson added: “I thought it was an amazing defensive performance. I always watch the players and watch what they do and try to take that into my own game.”

Elsewhere in the under-18 competition Edinburgh Academy will take to the road as they await the winner of the High School of Dundee versus Marr College match while Loretto School have drawn a home tie against either Merchiston Castle School or The Glasgow Academy.

In the under-15 Cup, holders George Watson’s College will travel to Aberdeen to face Robert Gordon’s College while Hutcheson’s Grammar School host Marr College.

Commenting on the quarter-final draw, Marc Wilkinson, senior divisional director at Brewin Dolphin, said: “Now that we are nearing the latter stages of the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Cup, things are really hotting up. Today’s draw has revealed some fantastic fixtures for the quarter-final stages of the competition.

“No doubt all of the schools involved will be excited about their forthcoming matches; and at Brewin Dolphin we are certainly looking forward to watching them play and seeing the outcomes of the games. We wish all those participating the very best of luck.”

BREWIN DOLPHIN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS CUP 2009-2010

UNDER-18 CUP QUARTER FINALS

Stewart’s Melville College V (George Heriot’s School or Galashiels Academy)

(High School of Dundee or Marr College) V The Edinburgh Academy

Loretto School V (Merchiston Castle School or The Glasgow Academy)

(Robert Gordon’s College or Bell Baxter High School) V (Dollar Academy or George Watson’s College)

UNDER-15 CUP QUARTER-FINALS

(Kelvinside Academy or George Heriot’s School) V Stewart’s Melville College

(Edinburgh Academy or Glasgow Academy) V (North Berwick High School or High School of Glasgow)

Hutchesons’ Grammar School V Marr College

Robert Gordon’s College V George Watson’s College

UNDER-18 PLATE QUARTER-FINALS

Perth Academy V (Bearsden / Douglas Academies or Wellington School)

(The Royal High School or Kelvinside Academy) V Craigmount / Forrester High School or Obermory) or Kelso High School

(Mintlaw / Ellon Academies or Banchory Academy) V (Balfron High School or Linlithgow Academy)

(Buckhaven High School or Jordanhill comp) V (Belmont Academy or Hawick High School)

UNDER-15 PLATE QUARTER-FINALS

(Bell Baxter High School or High School of Dundee) V Carrick Academy OR (St Columba’s, Kilmacolm or Preston Lodge High School)

(Firrhill High School or Hamilton College) V (Perth Academy or Gordon Schools) OR (Highlanders or Strathmore Schools)

Balfron High School or (Banchory Academy or Harris Academy) V (Selkirk High School or Boroughmuir/ James Gillespie’s High School)

(Hawick High School or Dunbar Grammar School) OR Galashiels Academy V (Millburn Academy or Nicolson Institute) or Stirling / Bannockburn High School

UNDER-18 BOWL QUARTER-FINALS

(Biggar / Lanark Grammar School or Williamwood High School) V Calderglen High School or (Holyrood Secondary or Coatbridge High School)

Carnoustie High School V (Meldrum Academy or Aberdeen Grammar School)

Berwickshire High School V (Ross High School or Langholm Academy)

(Kinross High School or Blairgowrie High School) V Tain Royal Academy

UNDER-15 BOWL QUARTER-FINALS

(Wallace High School or Culloden Academy) or Meldrum Academy V Earlston High School

Linlithgow Academy composite V (Gordonstoun School or Ellon Academy)

(Jedburgh Grammar School or Langholm Academy) V (Jordanhill School or Obermory)

(Falkirk High School or Morrison’s Academy) or Buckhaven High School V Biggar High School / Lanark Grammar