Warriors full-back Ben Howard was in action for England Sevens at the weekend and crossed for tries against Scotland and South Korea.
However, England were edged by the Scots and then South Africa before losing out to Australia and Samoa to finish in a disappointing 14th place in the Hong Kong leg of the World Series.
England Sevens Assistant Coach Tony Roques said: “Overall looking back with such a young team, obviously we’re disappointed with where we finished, but we’re really pleased with the performances that the boys put in and they gave it their all.
“They fought really hard against Australia and it was just a bounce of a ball in the end. We took a lot from that game – could have been better defensively and missed a few opportunities in attack, but the boys dug in, put in a real performance and it’s just that lack of experience that cost us.
“Against Samoa we changed it and started some of the younger lads to give them experience. We created a lot of opportunities, but against a very experienced side we turned the ball over a few too many times and gave them some tries. But we still showed a lot of passion and desire.
“I think we all learnt a lot as a group this weekend. A lot of boys were playing their first World Series tournament here in Hong Kong. They would have taken a lot from that and hopefully will go on from this and we’ve seen a couple of players that in the future will wear the England Sevens shirt a few more times.”
England Sevens squad for Hong Kong
George Chatterton
Alex Davis
Will Edwards (C)
Will Glover (Newcastle University)
Charlie Hayter
Ben Howard (Worcester Warriors)
Charlton Kerr
Charlie Kingham (Loughborough University)
Ryan Olowofela
Callum Sirker
Charlie Spawforth
Will Wilson (Oxford University)
13th man: Fergus Guiry
England’s Pool C fixtures:
England 19 – 22 Scotland
Tries: Howard, Olowofela, Sirker
England 47 – 7 South Korea
Tries: Howard, Olowofela, Wilson, Davis (2), Kerr, Glover
England 15 – 33 South Africa
Tries: Davis, Wilson, Edwards
Challenge Trophy quarter-final
England 14 – 17 Australia
Tries: Olowofela, Edwards
13th place semi-final
England 10 – 33 Samoa
Tries: Olowofela, Kerr
Meanwhile, Warriors Under 18 prop Lewis Holsey was in action for England Under 18s who fell to a 24-14 to France in their final game of the Six Nations Festival in Wales.
England Under 18 Head Coach John Fletcher said: “It was a much-improved performance. It’s the level of performance you would expect from an England side at this age group and I thought it was a really good advert for Under 18s rugby and was played with a really good intent.
“These are young players and they are in an environment where they are encouraged to try things and they will learn lots from these three games.
“We’ve enjoyed coaching them and spending time with the players over the past ten days and lots of them will go on to do really good things with the Under 20s. A few are back with us next year so we are excited about that.”
England: Tries – Tonks, Montgomery Cons – Hodge 2
France: Tries – Costosseque, Joseph, Penalty Cons – Brosset 2 Pens – Brosset
England U18s
15. Reece Dunn – Gloucester Rugby (St Peter’s High School)
14. Josh Hodge – Newcastle Falcons (Sedbergh School)
13. Will Simonds – Wasps (The Henley College)
12. Jack Reeves – Gloucester Rugby (Hartpury College)
11. Jacob Morris – Gloucester Rugby (Hartpury College)
10. Manu Vuniplola – Saracens (Harrow School)
9. Blake Boyland – Bristol Rugby (SGS College)
1. Bevan Rodd – Sale Sharks (Sedbergh School)
2. Alfie Barbeary – Wasps (Bloxham School)
3. Cal Ford – Sale Sharks (Sandbach School)
4. Ben Donnell – London Irish (Peter Symonds College)
5. George Martin – Leicester Tigers (Brooksby Melton College
6. Rob Farrar – Newcastle Falcons (Sedbergh School)
7. JJ Tonks – Gloucester Rugby (Hartpury College)
8. Rus Tuima – Exeter Chiefs (Exeter College)
Replacements
16. Samon Ma’asi – Northampton Saints (St Josephs)
17. Lewis Holsey – Worcester Warriors (Solihull School)
18. Jack Bartlett – Gloucester Rugby
19. Will Montogmery – Newcastle Falcons (Kirkbie Kendal School)
20. Henri Lavin – Leicester Tigers (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
21. Ted Leatherbarrow – Sale Sharks (Kirkham Grammar School)
22. Callum Pascoe – Newcastle Falcons (Gosforth Academy)
23. George Barton – Gloucester Rugby (Dean Close School)
24. Connor Doherty – Sale Sharks (Kirkham Grammar School)
25. Ollie Sleightholme – Northampton Saints (Northampton School for Boys)
26. Harry Barlow – Harlequins (Cranleigh School)