Fiji take revenge over England
Fiji avenged their loss to England last week when they beat their arch-rivals 40-19 to win the Standard Chartered Singapore Sevens yesterday.
Fiji, who were beaten 26-24 in the Cup final at the Hong Kong Sevens, turned on the style with William Ryder in the starring role, as they ran in half a dozen tries in a powerful exhibition of running rugby.
The victory saw Fiji extend their lead at the top of the IRB Sevens Series to 10 points over England with just two legs remaining.
Fiji led 19-14 at half-time but then scored three unanswered tries early in the second half with winger Filimoni Bolavucu scoring a brace as they set their seal on the Cup title. The master Waisale Serevi converted five of the six tries.
England booked their berth in the final after beating South Africa 33-14 in the semi-finals and Australia 26-14 in the quarters.
Fiji's path to the final was slightly more difficult. They scored a narrow 14-12 victory over Samoa in the quarter-finals before knocking off Argentina 26-7 in the semis.
New Zealand's poor season continued as they were knocked out in the Cup quarter-finals by Argentina 21-14.
The Kiwis then lost in the Plate semi-finals to Samoa 24-5. The Samoans went on to win the Plate, beating France 26-5.
Kenya won the Bowl, beating Japan 14-0, and South Korea beat China 43-5 in the Shield final.
Hong Kong bowed out without a win, but this young team can still hold their heads high after showing signs that a medal is well within their capabilities when the Asian Games comes around in December.
Losing to Argentina, South Africa and Scotland on the first day, and then Canada and Korea yesterday, is no disgrace for a team looking ahead to the Doha Games. With eight of the 12-strong squad being eligible, including five Chinese, it was a good learning curve.
'It was a good gutsy effort from the boys. They never gave up and the signs are encouraging as we build towards the Asian Games. We can take a lot of positives from this tournament and we can build on this experience,' said Hong Kong coach Rodney McIntosh.
'The big thing for me is that we have been scoring. This side have showed they can score tries and it will do their confidence a whole lot of good and bodes well for the future,' he added.
With the lineout a major worry, Hong Kong would do well to bring in overseas-based Ryan McBride, a second-row forward, for the Asian Games campaign.
'We will be looking at a few more guys offshore,' admitted McIntosh. 'We will also be looking at playing in a tournament every month. At the moment, I'm very happy with our progress.'
