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European Sevens Grand Prix
England secure European 7s title
ESPN Staff
July 9, 2012
Ollie Phillips shone for England throughout the Series © PA Photos
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Teams: England

England wrapped up the European Sevens Grand Prix title at the season-ending Odense 7s in Denmark on Sunday.

Ben Ryan's side were beaten 14-7 by eventual winners France in the Cup quarter-finals but they bounced back to book a place in the Plate final and with it the overall title having won the previous two events in Lyon and Moscow. France's success lifted them to second place in the standings with Spain claiming a notable third place finish.

Ryan opted to take a side consisting of a mixture of full-time centrally contracted players, new signings and triallists, and he was delighted with his team's performance which saw them win 17 out of 20 games during the three-tournament series.

"The final leg was more dramatic than we'd have liked and we wanted to win all three European tournaments but we achieved the goals we set ourselves in this competition," Ryan said. "We wanted to win the European title and we wanted to blood new players, and only two of the squad featured in all three tournaments, so it was pleasing to be able to mix things up.

"We had three who were 19 or younger in Odense in James Lightfoot-Brown, Joel Hodgson (Newcastle Falcons) and Marcus Webber (Manchester GS & Leeds Carnegie), so the future's looking very bright."

European Sevens Grand Prix results:

1. England - 50 points
2. Portugal - 48 points
3. France - 45 points
4. Spain - 43 points
5. Wales - 36 points
6. Russia - 34 points
7. Scotland - 22 points
8. George - 20 points
9. Ukraine - 12 points
10. Italy - 10 points
11. Germany - 8 points
12. Netherlands - 8 points

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