England's women won the FIRA European Sevens in Limoges, France to qualify in fine style for the inaugural women's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament, to be held alongside the men's event in Dubai next year.
England progress to the World Cup as one of six European qualifiers and are joined in the Dubai draw by the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, France and Italy. Elsewhere, Brazil have already qualified from South America and the remaining qualifiers will come from Oceania (two), Africa (two), North America (two) and Asia (three).
Following on from two recent victories against the NZ Maori and a Home Nations Cup victory at Murrayfield, England defeated the Netherlands 50-0 in the Limoges final.
The team, led by captain Sue Day and coached since April by former England Sevens captain Simon Amor and coach Mike Friday, won their pool by a distance on Saturday and began the knock-out rounds with a 29-5 quarter final win against hosts France.
Spain provided a sterner test in the semis before going down 10-0 before the convincing final victory against the Dutch.
“I’m pleased with the team’s performance all the way through the tournament,” said coach Simon Amor.
“Their commitment, passion and work rate was fantastic. We’d looked to improve all the way through and set the standards we need to meet if we are to become a world class team which is the intention."
