Euro Sevens: England aim to leave WC disappoinment behind

The senior England sevens team will be aiming to put World Cup disappointment behind them this weekend when they attempt to retain their European Sevens crown in Hanover.

This will be the sixth women's European championship , and England have never failed to reach the final. They did not enter the first tournament in 2003 (which was won by Spain), but did enter the next event in 2005 beating Spain 14-0 in the final of an event they totally dominated, conceding one try over a weekend of six games.

England were similarly dominant in 2006, with a total shutout until the final when Wales shocked them, winning a dramatic final 10-7.

2007 was far tougher, with England losing to France in their group, sneaking through the final with a two point win over Spain, and then losing the final comprehensively 19-5 to France. Last year, however, saw a much more dominent performance, with England strolling to the title with a 52-0 win over Netherlands in the final.

So - a place in the final is the minimum that England will be aiming at - particularly after the World Cup failure (for such it was - for a team that were Number 1 seeds and red hot favourites to only reach the quarter finals was a severe disappointment, especially when the tournament had been given priority over the Six Nations defence) - but they are in a tough group.

England will open the tournament at 10am with a pretty easy game against Portugal, before 80 minutes later they face a significant banana skin - Sweden - the shock winner of a place at the 15s World Cup thanks to wins over Italy and Spain. England have never been troubled by Sweden at any level, but never before has Swedish rugby been on such a high. Two hours after that it will be women's sevens specialists Spain (whose record in the tournament is second only to Englands) before finishing a long day at 3.50pm against France.

On Sunday - if the tournament follows the seeding - England are due to play Russia (but might equally be faced with Italy or Netherlands) in the morning before the final at 4pm.

The English team is very different to the side that dominated last year's tournament with several new faces. Overall England should reach their target and retain the title - but tomorrow will be a long day crucial and slip-ups are possible!