England through sevens semi

England inflicted further sporting misery on Australia on Saturday morning to book a semi-final clash with pre-tournament favourites South Africa at the Emirates Airlines Dubai Sevens.

England's cricketers had no sooner finished hammering Shane Warne to all corners of the Adelaide Oval than Ben Gollings inspired the Sevens side to a 21-5 victory in torrential rain.

The scratch Australian side - assembled after the original squad had been axed for threatening to go on strike over a pay dispute - took an early lead after capitalising on England's ill-discipline.

But Australia could not cope with the pace of Harlequins' David Strettle, who slid in for two tries - both of which Gollings converted brilliantly from the touchline.

Gollings, the lead points scorer in Sevens history and now playing his rugby for Doncaster, then crossed for England's third.

But head coach Mike Friday will be frustrated at the number of mistakes England made.

They were twice penalised for dissent - back-chat and throwing the ball away - and Australia almost punished Gollings for a careless restart.

England only escaped when Australian Nick Cummins lost the ball forward as he attempted to plough his way over the line.

South Africa booked their spot in the last four with a victory over Samoa.