Five Nations Championships 2025: Day three round-up

There was also a double cause for celebration for the host nation as they took the Dr Don Anthony Trophy, named after the founder of the Amateur Volleyball Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the precursor to the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish associations of today), on sets difference, as the best performing nation overall for the tournament. 

England won the men’s title courtesy of a comprehensive 25-16, 25-14, 25-19 straight-sets win over Scotland on court one, Ryan Poole top-scoring for the champions, to follow-up their four-set win over the same opponents in the round-robin stages on Saturday.

England men’s head coach, Simon Loftus, speaking after his side’s victory, said: “It feels tremendous, it’s another step on the journey, it’s been a good process.

“We took a bit of a gamble by trying to play two teams (another England team are in Luxembourg competing in the Novotel Cup) on the same weekend, so we diluted the group to make sure we were competitive in both, but I’m delighted – absolutely over the moon.

“Yesterday, we had a bit of difficulty with two games on one day, there was a bit of fatigue and to be fair to Scotland, they were excellent yesterday, we didn’t serve very well yesterday as the game progressed, and it kept it closer than it should have been.

“I think today, we reflected that a bit better, we addressed some of those issues, but it’s good fun, a lot of these guys know each other at university, so there’s a bit of banter back and forwards on court.

“It was a fun game to be a part of, we celebrate tonight, then we move on.”

England’s Sam Peters, who plays for the University of Nottingham, said: “When you put in the hard work and dedication to the sport, the country, and the team, it’s nice to come out with the win.

“This is what we came here to do, to show people that we’re serious about the volleyball that we play, and to really put in a statement. By just dropping that one set (against Scotland on Saturday), we proved that, but we’ve got more to show, we’re not just satisfied with winning the Five Nations, we want more, and this is just a stepping stone.

“We want to push and get into the European Championships and play at highest level.”

In the women’s final that followed, Shona Fraser, Alexis Crusey and Rachel Morrison all scored 17 points as Scotland repeated their four-set win over England yesterday with a 25-14, 25-8, 18-25, 25-22 triumph to clinch gold.

Scotland women’s head coach, Danny Traylor was delighted with his side’s victory and said: “The girls played well all weekend, we’ve been building up to it for the last few months and have been able to bring a relatively inexperienced squad with a smattering of experienced players, and it shows on court that we’re playing really well at the moment. 

“Statistically, we looked really good, we’ve got players who are near of the top of the stats.

“It’s great to see some of our younger players, who don’t have any experience at international level coming along, the goal is to keep getting better and see the team progress.”

Scotland’s Rachel Morrison added: “It’s been an amazing tournament to be a part of, really competitive games and to come out with the gold medal in such a strong tournament is fantastic. 

“I think first game, we got off to a slow start, but we knew that every set, we kept building, kept improving the areas that we needed to, and in the last two games, we played some of our best volleyball.

“It means so much (winning gold for Scotland). Every time you pull on the Scotland top, it's a great honour, and we’re happy that we did Scotland proud.” 

Meanwhile, Ireland's men recovered from two sets down to reverse sweep neighbours Northern Ireland, ultimately triumphing 18-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-20, 15-11.

It was an impressive reversal in fortunes for Ireland after a straight-sets defeat to the same opponents yesterday.

Ireland’s Patrick Cawley, after his side took third place, said, “We’re a team that have trained a lot, you can see the passion on court and the discipline, that’s a long-needed win. We’re all just absolutely delighted that it’s paid off in the end.” 

On the turnaround in form from yesterday, he added: “Everything wasn’t exactly connecting yesterday as we planned, but today we came out and we were much better. 

“Volleyball in Ireland is a very small sport, you don’t have a lot of players around, the development isn’t there yet, so to see the programme built up over the years and finally win in this environment is absolutely massive for us and the boys.”

Ireland’s women made it a third-place double with a 29-27, 25-15, 25-18 victory over their Northern Irish counterparts on court two.

TJ Sweeney of Ireland was pleased to round off the tournament with a win and said: “The feeling great, it was so much fun out there. 

“After the men winning (third place), it gave us a boost to go and try to win ourselves – and we did, so it’s great! 

“The progression has been great, it was a tough start, England was a tough game and Scotland came for us, but the last two games have been great, getting the momentum that we had.

Article by Andy Durrant. Images by Simon Clarke, Richard Beales and Keeran Marquis.