News - 2011

England Men And Canadian Women Crowned Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens Champions

DUBAI, UAE - England's men claimed their second consecutive Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens victory while the Canadian women's team won the first ever IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup title at 7he Sevens tonight.

Much to the festive crowd's delight, England managed a magnificent defence of the title they claimed in Dubai last year with a 29-12 victory over France in the Cup final. The English were always in command of the match, going into the break 24-7 up and while France came back well at the beginning of the second half, the English consolidated the victory with another try.

"I just love playing with these other six guys on the pitch and I am very happy with the result," said an ecstatic Mat Turner, who scored two of England's tries in the final and was later named Star of the Tournament.

"We went back to basics and played well that was it," added captain Greg Barden. "We had some tough games in the group stages and going back to basics allowed individuals to shine. We have great belief in our will. We don't get any easy games anymore so we did well," he added.

Earlier in the day, England had defeated New Zealand in the quarterfinal and Fiji in the semifinal to book their spot in the final. France, meanwhile had claimed an impressive win over South Africa in the quarterfinals before defeating Argentina in the semis.

In a reversal of the 2010 Plate final, it was Australia who took the title with a 17-14 win over South Africa while Scotland took the bowl with a 26-0 victory over USA and Samoa the shield after beating Kenya 31-17 in that final.

The Canadian women's side claimed their first ever IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup title after a 26-7 victory over England in the Cup final.

The Canadians had booked their spot in the final with a 36-0 victory over the USA in the semifinal while England overcame Australia 12-0 in their semifinal. "

Spain claimed the Plate title after a 28-0 victory over South Africa.

"This is what we have trained for. This is first time we have won almost anything and it is what we were working for," said an excited Canada captain Mandy Marchak afterwards.

"The girls worked really hard and were fantastic with their conditioning," added coach John Tait. "The work they have done paid off and they got a little bit better every match."

Meanwhile in the invitation tournaments, the Christina Noble Children's Foundation team claimed their fifth consecutive International Vets title in emphatic fashion - without conceding a single point throughout the tournament. They defeated the Xodus Steelers 28-0 in the final.

The Jebel Ali Dragons claimed the Gulf Men's title after a 29-7 win over the Abu Dhabi Harlequins I team and Dubai College took the hotly contested Gulf Under 18 boys title, defeating defending champions British School Al-Khubairat 26-0 in the final. In the International Invitation tournament it was Dubai Samurai who took top honours with a 29-21 victory over hfw Wailers.

"We have been treated to a wonderful weekend of action once again and congratulations must go to the England men for a brilliant performance in claiming the Cup for a second consecutive year and Canada's women's team for claiming the inaugural IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup," said Gary Chapman, President Group Services and dnata, Emirates Group.

"The atmosphere has been tremendous and the thousands that have attended are testament to why the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens remains Dubai's favourite sporting event," added Chapman.

"We are also proud that the tournament has smashed the record for the number of live hours broadcast from a single round of the HSBC Sevens World Series with 222 hours of live television beamed to 120 countries."

As the action came to an end on pitch at 7he Sevens, the Million Dollar Band took to the stage for the ever-popular Rugby Rock concert as celebrations continued into the night.