England 29 France 25: England Women crowned European Cup champions

Posted on May 21, 2012 in England Women

England Women added the European Cup crown to the Six Nations Grand Slam title they have already won this season with a thrilling 29-25 victory over France in Rovereto, Italy on Saturday night.

An injury time try for Worcester wing Lydia Thompson, who made her England debut just seven days ago in the tournament opener, secured the victory in the dying minutes of the game.

The match, which was billed as the winner takes all clash, was a typical England versus France encounter with both sides fired up and giving everything they had to secure the win and the crown.

But in the end it was England’s tenacity that paid off as they came from a 22-25 deficit to take the title away from France in style.

England Head Coach for this tour Graham Smith, who blooded seven new caps over seven days, said: “This has been a tour of opportunity for all the players involved and I can safely say every single player involved has taken this opportunity with both hands.

“This was a scintillating game, but as a coach a hard game to watch. We certainly controlled the first half but after the restart it was a different matter and France took control when we couldn’t get our consistency going and we did not defend as well. We also gave away too many penalties and France were able to take those points and that put us in a precarious position.

“However, we never gave up and after making some changes from the bench we took our opportunities, with Sally Tuson scoring a late try and then Lydia Thompson touching down for the crucial score in extra time.

“We are obviously delighted to have won the European Cup and defended our title but I am more delighted about the fact that we have underlined what talent we have coming through our system. It has also been great to have Simon Middleton on board as Assistant Coach for this championship. He has made a real impression and we are fortunate to have a coach of his calibre involved in the England set-up.”

England took the European Cup crown the hard way going 3-0 behind in the early stages after French full-back Jessy Tremouliere converted a penalty when England were penalised for holding on.

France and England then battled it out in a typical clash between these two sides, which saw them neck and neck for the next forty minutes. England had their chances, with both Katherine Merchant and Thompson going close but France defended staunchly and kept their fierce rivals out.

In the end France’s line did break when Bristol flanker Marlie Packer made some space before offloading to Thompson, who had both the power and the pace to dive over the try-line. Emily Scarratt (PICTURED) added the conversion to hand England a 7-3 lead at the break.

After the restart though, France turned the tables and a 42nd minute try for substitute Elordie Portaries, after a good line-out, catch and drive, saw them take a 7-10 lead.

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Thompson to make his Wasps debut

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 in English Rugby, London Wasps, Premiership, Worcester Warriors

England hooker Steve Thompson will make his debut for London Wasps this weekend having been handed the number two shirt for Friday night’s trip to Worcester in the Aviva Premiership.

Thompson, who featured strongly for England at the World Cup, is one of eight changes Director of Rugby Dai Young has made to this weekend’s team, as his side look to continue with winning ways in the Premiership having defeated Bath in the last round.

Also back in the starting line-up are Joe Simpson, who makes his first start of the season, Riki Flutey, who returns after a four-game injury absence, Nick Robinson, Ben Broster, Tim Payne, Jonathan Poff and Richard Birkett.

Just one player – Ross Filipo – also started against Worcester at Sixways two weekends ago in the LV=Cup.

Thompson said he was looking forward to representing the club for the first time. “I can’t wait to get out there and am delighted to get my first start because there is a lot of competition here for the number two shirt. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first few weeks with the club and I feel fresh and ready for action.”

Dai Young added: “We know that Worcester are very strong at home and away wins are always difficult, but if we want to do well in this league we have got to start picking up results on the road.”

London Wasps team to play Worcester.

15 Hugo Southwell
14 Tom Varndell
13 Chris Bell
12 Riki Flutey
11 Christian Wade
10 Nick Robinson
9 Joe Simpson
1 Tim Payne
2 Steve Thompson
3 Ben Broster
4 Ross Filipo
5 Marco Wentzel
6 Richard Birkett
7 Jonathan Poff
8 John Hart (c)

Replacements

16 Rob Webber
17 Zak Taulafo
18 Jeremy Castex
19 Joe Burton
20 Matt Everard
21 Nic Berry
22 Ryan Davis
23 Chris Mayor

Thompson extends contract with Falcons

Posted on Apr 5, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Newcastle Falcons hooker Matt Thompson has extended his contract at Kingston Park, ahead of Saturday’s crucial home Aviva Premiership match against Leeds Carnegie (kick-off 3pm).

The former Royal Grammar School pupil has enjoyed a rich vein of form in recent weeks, helping the Falcons to back-to-back premiership victories over Leeds Carnegie and Harlequins, as well as the semi-final triumph at Harlequins.

“I’ve been here for nearly ten years now and this is where I want to finish my career,” said Thompson.

“It means everything to represent Newcastle. I played for Newcastle Gosforth when I was six and ever since then I have always wanted to play for Newcastle Falcons.

“I’m nice and settled up here with a new family so it was a very easy decision to make,” he said.

The northeasterners have a crucial month with four consecutive home league games in April as Alan Tait’s men look to move up the table. And Thompson is relishing the challenge ahead, saying: “I’m quite happy with the form I’ve hit and I want to keep this going for the rest of the season.

“The fans are fantastic and they play a massive role every game. They were superb when they travelled down to Leeds and they were certainly the louder of the two sets of fans.

“The players love it when the fans get behind them at Kingston Park.”

Thompson concluded by underlining the importance of keeping premiership rugby in the north-east.

He said: “We’ve got to stay in this league and we will do that so hopefully a win on Saturday will move us a step closer to that.”

Titterrell blow for Carnegie

Posted on Nov 12, 2010 in LV=

Leeds Carnegie have suffered a blow ahead of this Sunday’s LV Cup clash with Sale Sharks with the news that hooker Andy Titterrell will be out of action for at least five months after scans revealed he will need surgery on a knee injury sustained in training last week.

Titterrell requires surgery on his ACL which leaves the Yorkshire side with only one senior hooker available for this weekend’s clash with Sale with Steve Thompson away on international duty with England.

Commenting on the news Director of Rugby Andy Key said, “We are bitterly disappointed for Andy however he will have the operation very soon and I am sure, given his nature and athletic strength that he will be battling to be back as soon as possible. Whilst we have suffered a number of injuries this season, this is only the second time that a serious injury has occurred in training, with Dan White breaking his leg earlier this year which makes it even more frustrating for Andy.

“Unfortunately in the short term, with Steve Thompson away with England, that only leaves us with Phil Nilsen to cover at hooker. We have two very talented young hookers in Harry Hannan and Scott Freer but both are coming back from long term injuries. In the case of Scott, hopefully he will get some rugby under his belt in the next week and I am sure he will be pushing for inclusion in the first team squad in due course. We have to make sure that we do not rush into a decision in case there are other options out there.”

In the Rugby Rebels forum

Posted on Feb 18, 2010 in Rugby News

The vexed question of which team should Warren Gatland pick to play Italy is a talking point in the Welsh Message Board (WMB). RR poster “Hook”, poses this question and offers Gatland the following advice:  “I think its important we don’t make the same mistake as Gats did last year but I would make a couple of changes and give some players a chance.” His team for Italy is: Byrne, Halfpenny, Shanklin, Roberts, James, Biggar, Phillips, Jones, Williams, Warbuton, Davies, J Thomas, Jones, Rees, Gill.

HorridM takes issue and says: “I hope we put out a good team for two reasons: 1) We need to build some confidence, 2) I’m going to that game. I can’t see us putting out too weak a team, because if we win our next two games we’ll be playing for the championship, if we don’t win them we’ll need to regain some pride.

Over in the England forum, Sharks fan Tiggers says: Back to proper rugby! Dafydd James makes his home debut and Gavin Kerr starts against his former club. Jones said, “Leeds will be hard to beat. They’ve got a good set piece and they’re desperate for a win. It’s a game that a lot of things hinge on so we really need to improve our discipline in our game. Leeds showed us back in November that they are a good side, but we have trained well this week and my players are ready and prepared for the challenge.”

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