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England Sevens teams earn Commonwealth Games plaudits with bronze double

The England women's team display their bronze medals from the Rugby Sevens on day 11 of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games
Image: The England women's team display their Commonwealth Games bronze medals

Simon Amor, the head of England Sevens, has paid tribute to the men's and women's team after they both picked up bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games.

The England men's side defeated hosts Australia 26-17 during the pool stage, but went down 17-12 to New Zealand in the semi-final.

They then found themselves 14-0 behind at half-time to South Africa in the bronze medal match, but produced a superb comeback to prevail 21-14, Phil Burgess scoring two tries and captain Tom Mitchell the other.

New Zealand went on to claim the gold medal with a 14-0 victory over Fiji.

The England women's side also secured a bronze medal with a 24-19 defeat of Canada, courtesy of three first-half tries from Lydia Thompson, Deborah Fleming and Claire Allan.

They had earlier lost 26-5 in the last four to New Zealand who subsequently saw off Australia 17-12 in the final.

"I'm incredibly proud of the effort from everyone in both programmes," Amor told englandrugby.com.

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"Looking at the men's, it was obviously a tough game against New Zealand who went on to win it, but really pleased with the way we kept on fighting and scrapping in that one.

The England men's team display their bronze medals from the Rugby Sevens on day 11 of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games
Image: The men's team also proudly display their medals

"The resilience from the guys to come back against an unbelievable South Africa team and put in the second-half performance to get the bronze medal shows an awful lot about this group.

"What was so special was for the women's programme to get their bronze medal.

"They beat a very good Canada side, they were in the fight in every single game and the growth they've had on the journey over the last six months has been incredible."

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