Rio beckons for England

England secured a rugby sevens berth for Great Britain at next year's Rio Olympics on Saturday after reaching the quarter-finals of the Sevens World Series at Twickenham.

Simon Amor's side comfortably won both their opening two matches at the season-ending tournament, sweeping aside Kenya 40-0 and then running in eight tries in beating Brazil 56-7 to progress through to the last eight.

That also meant Simon Amor's side are assured of a top-four finish in the Sevens World Series, with it guaranteeing Olympic qualification for Team GB.

Team GB chef de mission Mark England said: "It's fantastic to welcome rugby sevens to Team GB and it's hugely exciting to know that will be represented in the sport at an Olympic Games for the first time.

"To secure the quota places here in London at the end of the first qualification phase is a great achievement and we can now look forward to Rio 2016 next summer."

England, who are fourth in the overall standings behind Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand, saw their unbeaten start come to an end in their evening match as they were upset 22-19 by Scotland, who preserved their own 100 per cent record at a packed Twickenham.

Scotland finished top of Pool C and will face Australia in the quarter-finals on Sunday, while runners-up England take on New Zealand.