Victorious England boss not satisfied
England Sevens head coach Ben Ryan claims he “isn’t satisfied” with the way his side are playing after they lifted the Dubai Sevens title with a 29-12 win over France in the final.
England ran in five tries against France to retain their Dubai trophy following hard-earned victories against big guns New Zealand and Fiji on the way.
England’s player of the tournament Mathew Turner and wing Dan Norton led the way with seven tries over the two days.
Turner struck twice in the final after Norton snatched the winner against New Zealand and Fijian-born British Army soldier Isoa Damudamu scored two vital semifinal tries before opening England’s account against France in the decider.
The 22 series points gained put England second in the overall standings behind Fiji with the third leg of the Sevens World Series to come in Port Elizabeth next week.
A delighted Ryan wants his side to continue improving and believes they have the ability to do so.
“I’m still not satisfied with the way we’re playing and we’ve got a lot more in the tank,” he said. “But we played played some very clever football today and some outstanding individual contributions kept us on the front foot.
“Mat Turner’s acceleration off the base was phenomenal today. We had gas [speed] at the base, we had gas on the wing with Norton, and in Damudamu in the middle we had the glue that connected the two. The forwards provided the platform and I’m glad they all hit their straps today,” he added.
England’s other tries in the final were touched down by former Gloucester and Bristol wing Norton and ex-Newcastle centre Rob Vickerman, who signed a full-time Sevens with England contract this summer.
Turner’s second try was his 50th in the series and Norton now has 56 from 18 tournaments.
“We’ve always got an ongoing competition to see who scores the most, Dan and I,” said Turner. “He’s unbelievable player and he’ll always be that step ahead of me. I’m happy if he’s scoring. It’s all good.
“It’s a small milestone for me but so far so good. I just enjoy playing, being on the field with six other boys is enough motivation for me.
“We’re so successful in Dubai because it’s a home away from home, we’ve got the whole crowd behind us and it really gets us up. Now we go to South Africa next week and we’ve got to keep going.”
