England Men's Sevens acting head coach James Rodwell believes his side have made strides forward after they narrowly missed out on a bronze medal for the second successive World Series event.
Having been defeated by Australia in Hamilton, the Red Rose were edged by Fiji 17-14 in the semi-finals before losing 17-10 to USA in the bronze medal match in Sydney.
Will Hendy and Ollie Lindsay-Hague both dotted down but England had to settle for fourth once more.
“It was really pleasing to win all three pool games and to reach another semi-final. We were naturally disappointed with the result against Fiji,” Rodwell said.
"I thought the boys played very well, stayed in the game, defended really well and took our chances when we had them in the second half. Unfortunately, we made a few errors in the first half which led to the overall result.
“I can’t fault the boys’ attitude and effort throughout the weekend. We certainly didn’t get everything right but we made steps forward in certain areas.
“To have two fourth places on the trip is a credit to the players who have worked hard over the two weeks, not only to recover well after Hamilton but to go out and play well again this weekend.
"The boys have done really well, I’m really proud of their efforts. It’s always disappointing when you lose a bronze medal match but we know what we need to work on moving forwards.”
England’s women, meanwhile, were agonisingly denied a semi-final place on points difference as they finished sixth.
Having won their first two matches comprehensively, a 26-12 defeat to New Zealand saw France sneak into the last four by virtue of having scored 17 extra points.
Fiji then proved too strong as England were beaten 17-5 in the fifth place match.
Sportsbeat 2020