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An England VII successfully defended their London Floodlit Sevens title at Rosslyn Park RFC last night.

Ben Ryan’s side, playing under the ‘Dig Deep England’ banner, faced a high quality Saracens side in the final and despite being down to five men at one point held firm for the 17-5 win.

England’s forward line were similar to the one seen on this season’s IRB Sevens Series with Brightwell, Powell, and tournament MVP James Rodwell dominant throughout.

But it was a newcomer to the squad, Manu Tuilagi, who perhaps made the biggest impact against Saracens combining brutal power with subtle off-loads.

Despite the Premiership club taking the lead through the outstanding Fijian liesa Keresoni, England hit back immediately with Northampton Saint John Brake going blind to level at 5-5. Moments later Tuilagi, who plays at Leicester Tigers with brother Alex, propelled himself forward paving the way for a Simon Hunt try before the break.

Saracens included the likes of Noah Cato and former All Black Justin Marshall in their side with England Sevens captain Kevin Barrett, returning from injury, also involved. They played arguably the more attractive sevens and enjoyed plenty of possession in the second period. But England’s defence was outstanding and when Tuilagi countered Powell was on his shoulder to extend their lead to 17-5.

Saracens threatened to hit back but despite England losing Rodwell and Hunt to sin-bin, they butchered late chances and were denied.

England give squad players a chance

“It was a good competitive final and our boys stuck at it despite being down to five men and they defended well,” said a watching Ben Gollings who is being rested ahead of the London Sevens on May 22-23.

“It was good for the boys who don’t get much game time with England to have a run and to put their hand up and I think they did that to be fair.”

Two tries to London Wasps’ Mark Odejobi pushed England in their semi-final but a brace from Tuilagi and the pacey Hunt nudged England through 24-10. Saracens faced last year’s runners-up Harlequins in the night’s first semi-final with Academy player George Kruis speeding over early on.

Keresoni extended their lead to 12-0 before superb work from Quins’ Chris York gave Luvenyali a score and lifeline for the West Londoners. England Sevens’ Josh Drauniniu intercepted to close the gap further but Saracens held firm to book their spot in the final.

Earlier on England had eased past Esher 38-7 and then taught Loughborough Students a lesson winning 40-7. Saracens were too good for the Army, playing as the Marchwood Dolphins, before beating London Scottish 34-0. Scottish, winners of the event seven times, took solace in beating the Army 19-12 in an entertaining clash. 

Elsewhere Cambridge University, heading to the ULR Sevens on Sunday, impressed beating Rosslyn Park 26-7 and pushing Wasps close just missing out 21-14.

Rivals Blackheath and Richmond played out the most entertaining game of the night drawing 21-21.