James Rodwell is adamant England still have plenty more left in the tank, despite winning all three of their games on day one of the Manchester leg of the European Sevens Grand Prix Series.
England were in imperious form at Manchester’s AJ Bell Stadium, started brightly and crossing the try line five times against Romania to run out 42-12 winners.
They followed that by defeating Belgium but left their best performance for last, dominating a skilled Russia side to win 26-0.
But while pleased with the results, England’s Rodwell believes there is still plenty more to come from the current European Sevens Grand Prix Series leaders.
“The performance against Russia was definitely the best performance of the day,” 30-year-old Rodwell said.
“The boys were a little bit disappointed with the way we played in the first two games, even though we got the wins.
“But for us at this stage of the season it’s all about the performances. We conceded tries we shouldn’t have and there were other things we were trying to correct as the day went on.
“We’re confident going into every game but we’re looking to build on each performance. We’ve put down a marker and we’re looking to improve on it on Sunday.
“We know if we put in the performances we’re capable of we’ll beat any team in the world.”
Meanwhile, things didn’t go so smoothly for Wales, although they also progressed from the group stages as well.
Having lost their first game against France, Wales redeemed themselves with two gritty wins against awkward opposition.
Wales beat a spirited Germany side with a last-gasp Jason Harries try, before beating Portugal 26-19.
Welsh captain Lee Williams said: “There was a bit of rustiness but we got through the group stage to the Cup section, so happy days.
“We’re a bit of a new-look side, so we’re not really reading each other at the moment. But there were definitely signs that we are improving.
“I’m certainly confident going into Sunday. We’ve got a good squad so if we play to the best of our ability we’ll be in the mix, no doubt.”
And Scotland recovered from an early setback against Spain to finish a comfortable second in Pool C.
Having gone down 5-12 to Spain in their opening game, Scott Wight’s men rallied to defeat Italy and Georgia in impressive fashion to advance.
Scottish captain Wight said: “It’s a job half done. We said the big emphasis on Saturday was winning two games to make the Cup quarter-finals.
“We’ve achieved that after a slow start against Spain where we were obviously off the pace a wee bit.
“We’ve just got to take what we’ve done against Georgia and use it on Sunday, playing at the same intensity and tempo.”
Also progressing through to the Cup quarter-finals were Spain and France, who both ended the first day.
Catch them if you can! Rugby sevens comes to Manchester this weekend in the form of the European Sevens, taking place at the AJ Bell Stadium. The first 150 people to arrive at the stadium will gain FREE entry for that day only. Don’t miss out! Subject to availability. T&Cs apply.
Main image courtesy of Talking Rugby Union via YouTube, with thanks.
