England seal Olympic spot in rugby sevens
Tuesday 19 May 2015 13:53, UK
England secured a place for Great Britain's rugby sevens team at next year's Rio Olympics after reaching the quarter-finals of the Sevens World Series at Twickenham.
Simon Amor's side comfortably won both their opening two matches at the season-ending tournament, sweeping aside Kenya 40-0 and then running in eight tries in beating Brazil 56-7 to progress through to the last eight.
That means England are assured of a top-four finish in the Sevens World Series, guaranteeing Olympic qualification for Team GB.
Live HSBC Sevens World Series
Team GB's chef de mission Mark England said: "It's fantastic to welcome rugby sevens to Team GB and it's hugely exciting to know that will be represented in the sport at an Olympic Games for the first time.
"To secure the quota places here in London at the end of the first qualification phase is a great achievement and we can now look forward to Rio 2016 next summer."
Sunday’s quarter-finals will see England take on New Zealand, Scotland will face Australia, USA versus Canada and Fiji will play South Africa.
New Zealand finished top of Pool B after notching up three victories.
The All Blacks defeated Wales 38-0 with a brace from Rieko Ioane before coming from behind to see off Japan 26-14.
And the New Zealanders capped off a perfect day by beating Australia 24-10.
Meanwhile, Rhodri Davies scored the winning try as Wales edged out Japan 24-21, who are relegated.
The USA delivered the shock of the day after stunning South Africa 21-12, and Fiji secured their 27th win of the World Series after seeing off Canada 31-14.
