2022 Euros Day 4 round-up

The 2022 European Touch Championships took a step closer to their final stages in Nottingham today, as England continued to record strong results across every category.

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Mens Open

England opened with an opportunity to lay a marker down against France, who had come out on top when the teams had met in the first game of day one. And put things right they did with a 14-5 win. Charlie Thomson and Hanno Rossouw got a pair in each half, with Will Lupton having his own brace of tries split by the break. Will Serocold scored twice in the second half, the game’s other tries coming from Jon Weston-Stanley and Josh Henderson.

The team was pushed all the way in the second game by Scotland, who gained an element of revenge for their shutout earlier in the week by keeping the final margin to two tries. The score was tied at the break, Serocold, Thomson, Rossouw and Kamil Shahabdeen scoring for England. It remained close after the break, too, but with Louis Treays scoring twice, Rossouw also completing a brace and Vaughn Meredith, Dom Tripp and Horatio Price all crossing England had a 10-6 win under their belt.

England’s final game of the day was against Germany, and they headed back to the halls with an 18-0 victory which will end up being crucial when it comes to the final league standings. Meredith and Rossouw both went over for five, Weston-Stanley and Henderson got a pair each, and Serocold, Thomson, Lupton and Matt Sandlant finished things off.

England will have their final pool match against Ireland on Saturday morning, a match which will be crucial in deciding who plays who in the semi-finals.

Womens Open

England had to wait until the afternoon to start their day’s action, and they had to hold off a stiff challenge from Ireland, who held the host nation to a 4-4 tie at the break. Mimi Paton, Emily Rona-Roper, Nicola Wise and Naomi Fearnett had scored the first half tries, and it needed Rona-Roper to complete a hat-trick, along with further scores from Wise, Bronte Sykes and Danni Gregory to secure a 9-6 win.

Things were more straightforward against Belgium. Carly Wynne (3), Wise (2), Fearnett, Gregory, Emily Simon and Laura Cochrane all went over in the first half, with Sykes, Cochrane, Wynne, Wise, Fearnett and Georgina McKavanagh (2) ensuring that England finished the league with momentum.

England are in the semi-finals on Saturday lunchtime, when they will play XXXX.

Mixed Open

England maintained their perfect record of both wins and double-digit scores against Ireland in their first game of the day. Toby Philips led the way in the first half with two tries, with Jamie Ironside to go one better by completing a hat-trick separated by the half-time interval. The other scores came from Meghan Pemberton (2), Isobel Hobson, Matthew Maynard, Kendelle Fry and Bradley Murphy, England eventually winning 11-5.

England completed the league campaign against Bulgaria, who had put up valiant showings throughout their first ever European Touch Championships outing. England used the opportunity to rest multiple players and give others the chance to experience different positions, but nevertheless maintained their 100 percent success rate with a 14-1 win. Pemberton scored three, with Fry and Harry Goldman both going over twice and the other tries coming from Hobson, Josh Ingram, Anna Crossley, Ella Loveridge, Tom Lawton-Davies and Maynard.

England will play France in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Womens 27

The Womens 27 team’s 100 percent record slipped in their opening match, as Scotland pushed them all the way. Not only were the teams tied at 3-3 at half-time, Eleanor Pitcher scoring twice and Niki Bird adding the other try, but there was nothing to separate the sides at the final hooter either. Pitcher completed her hat-trick, with Anna Wilson and Jo Devine scoring the other tries in a 6-6 draw.

There was plenty to celebrate in the second match though, not least Bird achieving the 75-cap milestone in a 14-0 win over Ireland which rounded off the league campaign. Katherine Jones, whose try tally had been limited to one throughout the previous nine matches, increased that by four, with Jamie Cone and Rosie Kells both scoring three, Wilson getting a brace, and Pitcher and Sallianne Buttsworth also going over the line.

England will play Spain in their Saturday semi-final.

Mens 30

The Mens 30 team secured their top position in the league rankings and the quarter final bye which came with it by beating Belgium in the early-lunchtime slot. Belgium asked plenty of questions, but it was England who had the tries, Byron Tibbitts, James Herd and Tom Davies all crossing twice in the first half. Charlie Newton scored in each half, as did Jason Limerick, and Herd completed a hat-trick in an 11-3 win.

England will play Belgium on Saturday after they beat Switzerland in the quarter final.

Mixed 30

The Lions ended their three-game mini-series against England with a win over the senior team. After having lost by four in the first game and one in the second, the Lions hit the front 2-1 by half-time, Abigail Walters and Richard Moody the scorers. Brent McDougall replied for England, but they could only add one try after the break, Dan Powell the scorer. But Walters also scored for the Lions, and they ran out 3-2 winners.

England then shook off any frustration with a dominant performance over Scotland. They led 6-3 at the break, but then turned on the style in the second half to out-score the Scots 7-2. Rob Grist went over four times, Sean Macdonald and Victoria Franks both scored first half doubles, with the other tries coming from McDougall, Stacey Collins, Louise Carr, George Hedley-Miller and Jonathan Clark, who was the final player within the squad who had yet to score a try, 13-5 the final result.

For their part, the Lions retained their momentum for their next game, which was against France. On day three they had had to claw their way back in the second half, but this time they were in control when the half-time hooter sounded, Marcus Evans crossing three times and Simpson and Moody once each as the Lions led 5-2. The second half saw another try each for Moody and Simpson, and with further tries from Georgia Blessed and Annabel Jansen they had a 9-4 win under the belt.

England will play France in Saturday’s final, with the Lions ineligible to potentially win the title, although they finished second in the table. They will play Scotland in the other match.

Womens 35

England came quickly out of the blocks in their opening game of the day, scoring five unanswered tries against Scotland in the first half alone. Claire Davis got two of these, with Louise Rickard, Olivia Jones and Julia Kang also scoring. Davis turned two into three after the break, with Rickard, Jones and Kang completing a double. Sue-Ellen Godde and Kylie Hutchison were the final scorers in an 11-1 result.  

There was another Home Nation to face to round off the pool stages, this time Ireland. England took control in the first half, Lois Lau (2), Sammie Phillips, Vicky Tomlinson and Rebecca Maxwell the scorers. Phillips and Tomlinson then added a second each, Nollaig Quinn the final scorer.

The win confirmed England’s place at the top of the table, and they will play Wales in Saturday’s final.

Mens 40

The Mens 40 ended on top of the pool with a 16-0 shutout of Belgium, which sees them progress directly into Saturday’s semi-final. Joseph Hartley was the game’s focus of attention with four tries, but he was closely followed by Matt Mahoney and Ben Blackburn, who both scored hat-tricks, with Ruez Durrani (2), James Mallick, Campbell Allen, Matt Hall and Dan Lewis also going over.

England will play the winner of Scotland and Jersey on Saturday.

Mens 45

England had a challenging 40 minutes against Scotland in their first game of the day. Tied at 3-all at the break – Ken Pollard (2) and Josh Bingley the scorers – England pulled away in the second half, Pollard ending up with four tries and Bingley three. David Williamson, Brian Sibthorp and Mike Roa also scored as England ran out with a 10-6 win.

England then hit double figures against Portugal at lunchtime, Williamson leading the way with three tries. Alex Berger scored in each half, with Paul Bunce, Adrian Williams, Lloyd Hook, Kingsley Maunder and Sibthorp also crossing in a 10-2 victory.

England confirmed their place at the top of the table going into Saturday’s semi-finals with an 8-3 win over France in the early evening sunshine. The game was close at the break, Bingley and Williams the only scorers in a 2-1 lead. But the contest was broken wide open in the second half, as Bingley scored two more, with Williamson, Bunce, Maunder and Simon Quarshie the players to score.

England will play Switzerland in Saturday’s semi-final.

Mens 50

England went into Friday sitting at the top of the standings, and with games against Ireland and Wales scheduled for the day.

The first of these came against the men in green, who proved to be as dogged an opposition as they had been earlier in the week. England – for whom Ian Moody hit the 75-cap milestone – opened up a 3-1 lead in the first half, Paul Ainscough, Mark Elliott and Mark Hobson going over. But Ireland tied things up in the second, before Elliott’s second and a John Banks effort saw them home 5-4.

The team then confirmed their place as the inaugural European Mens 50 champion nation with a 7-3 win over Wales at the end of the day. Simon Witton scored twice in the first half, as did Ryan Anglem, and England then turned the 3-2 half-time lead into the final score with a second from Anglem and other tries from John Banks, John Tuite and Duncan Mascarenhas.