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England beat USA to reach Rugby Sevens World Cup semi-finals

England beat USA to reach Rugby Sevens World Cup semi-final
Image: England have beaten the USA to reach Rugby Sevens World Cup semi-final

England have reached the Rugby Sevens World Cup semi-finals after beating hosts USA 24-19.

They will play World Series champions South Africa for a place in the final on Sunday.

England won the game in extra-time after Phil Burgess latched on to Tom Mitchell's crossfield kick to seal the win.

The United States took an early 7-0 lead through captain Madison Hughes' converted try before two tries from England's Dan Norton gave them a 12-7 lead at the break.

Ollie Lindsay-Hague increased their lead straight from the second-half restart before the United States fought back with tries from Folau Niua and Perry Baker to make it 19-19 and send the game to extra-time.

Mitchell found Burgess in space to allow him to touch down in the corner and win the game for England.

England captain Mitchell thinks that the team's self-belief was key.

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"It was always going to be a tight one playing the USA at home here in San Francisco," he said.

"But that was an unbelievable effort from the squad where we demonstrated a massive amount of trust to stick in it and believe in ourselves

"When it goes down to extra time like that it's something we've worked on and something that we've talked about.

"It's about sticking in the moment together and I think we really leaned on that to get the final score at the end."

England last won the Sevens World Cup in 1993. They finished runners-up in the last tournament, losing to New Zealand. Mitchell says the fans can inspire them.

"We're so grateful for all the England fans out there," he added.

"There were lot of St George's flags flying around in the crowd and to look up and see that is amazing so far away from home.

"That's what's special about sevens - you realise you can connect with people around the world who are supporting England."

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