DUBAI // Serenaded off the field with a rendition of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, the England women’s sevens team took another step to justifying their national body’s decision to offer full-time contracts to the country’s top players.
Under the floodlights on Thursday night at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, England defeated Canada 17-12 in a hard-fought match that was a repeat of August's 15-a-side Women's World Cup final. The victory was the team's third straight after easy wins over Fiji (26-0) and Brazil (29-7).
England raced to a 12-0 lead in the first half, but Canada battled back and England coach Simon Middleton said his side would have likely lost the match had the Rugby Football Union (RFU) not rewarded the World Cup win with the financial backing that allowed 20 of the country’s best players to receive full-time deals.
“Since turning professional, you can see the additional energy and staying power that the full-time programme affords you,” Middleton said. “That was demonstrated at the end here. We would probably have lost that game last year, but now we are stronger, fitter and able to see them out.”
Natasha Hunt, the English scrum-half, was a teacher when she decided to quit and focus on sevens. Centre Claire Allan took a sabbatical from the police force to go full-time.
"Some massive decisions had to be made," Middleton said. "Some of the girls were well on their way to having established careers. A lot of the girls are taking big pay cuts, so financially, they have had to readjust and go into shared houses just to make the dream come true and give it a shot. But this is their passion."
Hunt loved teaching, but she does not miss rising at 6.30am to train before work, and again afterward.
“Maybe it is because I have been in this sport for a long time and know how precarious it can be, but I think they are incredibly brave,” Middleton said.
“When they got the contracts, there were twinkles in their eyes and they didn’t take much signing – it’s days like this that make you understand why.”
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
When is VAR used?
• Goals
• Penalty decisions
• Direct red-card incidents
• Mistaken identity
Tu%20Jhoothi%20Main%20Makkaar%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELuv%20Ranjan%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERanbir%20Kapoor%2C%20Shraddha%20Kapoor%2C%20Anubhav%20Singh%20Bassi%20and%20Dimple%20Kapadia%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
