England's Bibby: World Rugby Sevens Series achievement better than Rio silver
BySportsbeat
Published 22/05/2017 at 11:57 GMT
Dan Bibby believes England's second-place finish in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series is a better achievement than the silver medal they picked up at last year's Olympic Games.
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England made four tournament finals across the season, though their last ended in disappointment as Scotland prevailed at Twickenham on Sunday, in what was the final event of the campaign.
But that didn't prevent them securing runners-up spot in the overall standings, behind South Africa, after picking up three opening-day wins in the pool stage.
From there they beat the champion Springboks in the quarter-finals at rugby HQ before getting the better of Canada in the last four of the cup, all before defeat to Scotland.
But with HSBC World Rugby Sevens victories in Vancouver and Canada, Bibby felt the achievements of Simon Amor's side were more than comparable to their success in Rio, last summer.
"What a year, I'm unbelievably proud of the boys," said the 26-year-old. "I got a bit emotional at the final whistle because I just cannot believe how well we've done, and how good this year has been.
"Coming off the back of last year's Olympics, being such a high, we thought it couldn't get much better, but it did get much better.
"Winning in Vancouver was pretty special. And to win in Cape Town, in front of 50,000 South African fans, against South Africa is one of my career highlights that will stick with me forever.
"I've got so much love for these boys, and being such good friends off the pitch means that we have a good time on the pitch.
"The memories we have created this season have just been unbelievable and are something I'll look back on and think 'wow that was special'."
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