World Cup Debut for Navy Chef
With three minutes to go of Englands first round match Navy Chef, Logs (CS) Josh Drauniniu made history as he became the first player from Navy Rugby to represent the Service at an iRB World Cup. Thirty seconds later he bacame the first Navy player to score at a World Cup. England cruised to a comfortable 42 - 5 victory against Hong Kong but were made to work hard in the first quarter by a resolute Hong Kong team. In fact it was Hong Kong who took the early lead after Kevin Barratt, a colleague of Josh's at Exeter Chiefs, was sin binned for a deliberate knock on. After this ealy set back England gradually asserted their authority and by the time that Josh came on the game was already in the bag at 28 - 5. However a break from 40m put the Navy man on the score sheet and England moved on to 35 - 5 before scoring their sixth try late on. Tomorrow England face Tunisia and the well respected Kenya Seven who have beaten England on a few previous occasions. England will certainly have to reduce their error count if they are to top the pool. From RFU: England 42 - 5 Hong Kong Tom Varndell celebrated his sevens comeback by scoring two tries against Hong Kong in England's opening match of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai. Varndell, who last appeared for England in Dubai 2005 where his ten try tally earned him the 'Player of the Tournament' award, flew in for England's second and last try of the match. Hong Kong were first on the scoreboard as England went behind in the third minute of the first half. They quickly recovered with Tom Biggs tearing through Hong Kong's defence to score just before half time. Ben Gollings converted for England to take the lead at the break. England found their way over the line five times during the second half. Varndell was first, tearing up the left wing to score right under the posts for Gollings to convert. Some secure handling from Chris Cracknell and Kevin Barrett awarded Gollings with his first try of the tournament and he added a second after the restart by running through two defenders and converted both. Replacement Josh Drauniniu came on to make his mark late in the second half, avoiding two tackles on his way to the line with Gollings keeping his 100% kicking record to take the scores to 35-5 with a minute remaining. It was left to the Leicester speedster to have the last say, and after some defending from England, topped his comeback with a try on the final buzzer. Gollings converted taking the final score to 42-5. England face Tunisia tomorrow at 11.22am local time, GMT +4. England: Isoa Damudamu (British Army/London Wasps), Rob Vickerman (Leeds Carnegie), Ollie Phillips (Newcastle Falcons), Kevin Barrett (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Gollings (Gold Coast, Australia), Tom Biggs (Leeds Carnegie), Chris Cracknell (Exeter Chiefs) Replacements: Josh Drauniniu (Royal Navy/Exeter Chiefs), Tom Varndell (Leicester Tigers), Andy Vilk (Benetton Treviso). Tries: Biggs, Varndell (2), Gollings (2), Drauniniu Conversions: Gollings (6) Yellow Card: Barrett Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009, Dubai, March 5-7 England results: Thursday March 5, 2009 England 43-5 Hong Kong Ends