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Fiji celebrate their win

Fiji win Hong Kong Sevens title with 33-19 win over New Zealand

Stunning performance from islanders sees them blow away the Kiwis to win on 40th anniversary of city's biggest sporting event

Fiji celebrate

Well that's it for another year ... how was your Hong Kong Sevens 2015?

The final wasn't a classic, but that's just because Fiji completely outclassed New Zealand in a terrific display. They've been tremendous all weekend, and it's going to be great to see them lift the island's first Olympic medal (surely they will finish at least third?) in Rio next year.

For Hong Kong fans it was a disappointing tournament, as they were bullied out of the Qualifier Tournament in the quarter-finals by the far cannier and stronger Russia - who eventually won promotion to the World Series. Have HK just gone as far as they can with the limited player pool here? 

It was the event's 40th birthday and it was certainly as big and loud as ever; the South Stand seemed to be filled in record time on the Saturday. Not sure what the point of paying English comedian Al Murray was though, he was about as funny as a spear tackle from a Fijian. And as for the Village People ... well the South Stand enjoyed them, having been drinking in the sun for seven hours before they came on.

Here's some quick reaction, courtesy of worldrugby.org - check out scmp.com and the print product tomorrow for every cough and spit from day 3.

New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens: "That's a great Fijian side. I give my side a lot of dues, just maybe our inexperience was shown up a little bit in the final. It's a great tournament to be involved in and we gave it our best shot. But when they play like that they are very tough to beat."

Fiji player Osea Kolinisau: "We've been wearing black armbands for Iosefo Bele Tabalala of Fiji Warriors who passed away last week. This victory is for him. To all the fans back home thank you for your support, we feel so proud to play for you."

 

CUP FINAL

FULL TIME Fiji 33 New Zealand 19 - FIJI ARE THE 2015 HONG KONG SEVENS CHAMPIONS

That's it! It's all over. Stunning performance from Fiji - how often can you say New Zealand are completely outclassed (apart from the cricket final of course)?

Fijians steamed ahead into a three-try lead with amazing speed and power, and every time New Zealand briefly threatened to get back in it, Fiji just stormed up the other end and scored again. 

Fantastic performance from them. They move to 108 points in the world series, just 2 behind leaders South Africa with New Zealand on 107. Australia (84) and England (78) battling for the last remaining Olympics place as the series heads to Tokyo

TRY! Fiji 33 New Zealand 19 Fiji immediately hit back once more, Vatemo Ravouvou showing amazing speed down the left wing, before handing off to Apisai Domolailai to dot the ball down. Fiji are the champs ... seconds remaining

TRY! Fiji 28 New Zealand 19 Scott Curry gets his second after some patient passing buildup from the Kiwis ... 9 points in it, 3 mins to go

TRY! Fiji 28 New Zealand 12 Jasa Veremalua immediately restores Fiji's advantage from the restart, powering through a few attempted tackles

TRY! Fiji 21 New Zealand 12 Scott Curry goes under the posts for New Zealand after some sustained possession

HT Fiji 21 New Zealand 5  Fiji simply awesome for most of that half before giving New Zealand a slight way back in right at the end. If they play like they did for most of the first half in the second period, they'll win comfortably. Can New Zealand make a game of it?

TRY! Fiji 21 New Zealand 5 Beaudine Waaka gives New Zealand a sniff well after the half-time hooter as Fiji take their customary nap. Comeback on?

TRY! Fiji 21 New Zealand 0 New Zealand try to attack, but Rawaca picks off a pass 60 metres out and steams through .. . this could be a rout

TRY! Fiji 14 New Zealand 0 New Zealand lose it 10m into Fiji's half, and Samisoni Viriviri storms forward before putting a try on a plate for Jerry Tuwai. Very impressive start here from Fiji

TRY! Fiji 7 New Zealand 0 First blood to the Fijians after 3 minutes or so of feeling each other out as Savenaca Rawaca bullocks his way through umpteen attempted tackles, refusing to take no for an answer. Conversion is good.

 

3rd/4th place playoff

FT South Africa 24 Samoa 5

Stephan Dippenaar puts South Africa in front with a quickly taken pen and sprint as Samoa snooze. He's swiftly followed over the line by Rosco Speckman to all but seal it. Justin Geduld adds another with a great leap to catch a loose ball on the line. Samoa not really turned up for the second half. Important win for series leaders South Africa, the third place finish ensuring they can't be overtaken at the top of the Series standings, though New Zealand will draw level if they win here

HT South Africa 5 Samoa 5

Haven't been following this one too closely. Or at all, really. It's 5-5 all at half time, Geduld first then Iosefo for Samoa

Plate final

FT Australia 21 USA 17 

After three minutes of not very much, sub Shannon Walker takes matters into his own hands, shrugging off Baker to score from the right wing. Dunno why he doesn't start. The conversion puts Australia ahead by 2. And they stretch the lead further through Cameron Clark after a few decent passes, Clark sneaking through a gap in the line. With a minute to go, Hughes goes on a sensational sprint from his own half, to make the gap 4 with 30 seconds left. USA get a man free on the left as the hooter sounds but - FUMBLE! INCOMPLETE! - Durutalo makes a mess of it. Great game

HT Australia 7 USA 12

Australia straight out of the blocks and score after some nice work by Allan Fa'alava'au, but US strike back a minute or two later through Andrew Durutalo. Aussies somehow prevented stretching their lead after a great tackle by Garrett Bender. Perry Baker then intercepts a hospital ball and starts celebrating 60m out before covering that distance in about 2 seconds. Australia denied a try after the hooter following a look at the TV, Cameron Clark magnificently tackled on the line by Madison Hughes. Great first half

BOWL FINAL 

FT France 5 Scotland 26

Terry Bouhraoua, which sounds like the noise ye make when ye've had one pint of Bucky too many, is sinbinned as France repeatedly cheat in the face of the Jocky onslaught, and Colin Gregor is straight over the line to make them pay. As the French panic and cry for their maws, Steeve Barry (two 'e's are ye kiddin?) throws a pure rank pass straight to Jinky Johnstone, who goes under the posts then waits for like a minute before putting the baw doon. Get in there. Simply magnificent from the Blue Army and they cap it off with the try of the weekend, pass after pass down the left touchline before Gregor scores. Worth the ticket price alone

HT France 5 Scotland 7

Scotland tear intae them like yer maw attackin a fish supper, and James 'Jinky' Johnstone is first over the line after some pure tidy passing, Scotland even bouncing the baw off a France player's haunds at one point. Virimi Vakatawa, who disnae sound too French to me likes, equalises with a sprint up the left touchline, the screams from the French International School bairns in the East Stand temporarily deafening Scotland's defenders.

PLATE FINAL FT Kenya 26 Japan 7

Well, Japan have been pretty rubbish all weekend but not as rubbish as Japan, and they head home with the least of the trophies on offer. I'll be honest, I took a nap during that (metaphorically speaking) to recharge for the main event - SCOTLAND decimating France in the Bowl. 

Collins Injera became the Hong Kong Sevens all-time top try scorer (26), overtaking China's Johnny Zhang. And though Japan levelled, two from Billy Odhiambo in the second half sealed it for the Africans. Japan will want to do a lot better next week at their home tournament than they have in HK. Leonard Mugaisi adds one after the hooter to rub it in

QUALIFIER FINAL

FT Russia 22 Zimbabwe 19

Unbelievable finish after a cagey, not-much-in-it game. Kuda Chiwanza thought he'd won it for Zimbabwe, putting them ahead with seconds remaining to huge cheers from the crowd. But after the hooter sounded, Zimbabwe missed a tackle on the halfway line and Vladimir Ostroushko was suddenly clear through, celebrating well ahead of the line. And that is the difference between promotion to the World Series and not. Sickener for Zimbabwe

Cup final: Fiji v New Zealand 1900

FT Samoa 14 New Zealand 15 Alatasi Tupou breaks through and finds Lafaele Vaa in support to give Samoa hope of a turnaround. Then a fumbled pass from wonderkid Rieko Ioane puts Samoa Toloa in to put Samoa in front with 3 minutes to go ... interesting ... Nwe Zealand hit back and win a penalty in Samoa's 22 - and opt for the drop kick to sneak a point in front with a minute left. As the clock runs down, Ambrose Curtis runs towards his own goal and boots it out as the hooter goes, to massive boos. So the Kiwis sneak through ... you'd have to fancy Fiji

HT Samoa 0 New Zealand 12 Great chip-chase from Beaudine Waaka from kick off almost sees him through, when he's stopped, Scott Curry manages to get it over the line. Perfect start for New Zealand. Some lovely passing across the width of the pitch from Tim Mikkelson and Joe Webber then sends Sherwin Stowers over in the right corner. Too easy.

FT Fiji 21 South Africa 15 Frankie Horne pulls one back early for South Africa as Fiji seemingly decide to take a collective nap for a minute, and Cecil Afrika speeds over from the base of a ruck not long after to make it very interesting. South Africa go over the line again, but the ref calls it back for a forward pass. Seabelo Senatla gets on to a Cecil Afrika kick to the corner to set up a cracking finale, but South Africa throwaway their own lineout to lose it. Worryingly lackadaisical second half from Fiji after threatening to destroy South Africa in the first seven

HT Fiji 21 South Africa 0 First blood to Fiji after a cagey start, man-mountain Pio Tuwai again providing the assist, almost untackleable, and setting it up for Jerry Tuwai. Some utter decimation from the Fijis in South Africa's 22, laying waste to players right and left, creates room for Semi Kunatani to storm over. Only an amazing tackle from Kwagga Smith right on the line under the posts on Savenaca Rawaca prevents a third - but it comes seconds later from Pio Tuwai after Isake Katonibau shimmied through the line. Looks like yet another Fiji-NZ final on the way in Hong Kong - and my money's on Fiji.

Plate final - Australia v USA 1800

FT USA 28 Argentina 14 Literally nothing happened for most of that second half, eventually Zack went on a long solo run down the US right wing to stretch the lead further. Standard post-hooter consolator for Francisco Merello to make the score look more respectable

HT USA 21 Argentina 7 Rodrigo Etchart under the posts just over a minute in as Argentina get off to a perfect start. Straight from kickoff, the US equalise, Zack Test storming away then handing off to Danny Barrett when he's finally caught. Then Maka Unufe scores a brilliant solo try for the US, intercepting in his own 22, handing off a couple of defenders, then skinning the full-back with a sneaky step. Moments later he's away again, and though Argentina manage to take him down in front of their posts, he hands off for Perry Baker. Very impressive stuff from the Americans.

FT England 7 Australia 12 Yellow card for England's Jeff Williams early on, but the Aussies couldn't exploit the extra man. Tremendous defending again from both teams, and it takes a brilliant try to stretch the lead, Jenkins capping off a 60m multiple-pass move. That's a big win for Australia in the context of qualification for the Rio Olympics, as they should extend their advantage over England in the race for the final spot. Tom Mitchell with a meaningless try after the hooter

HT England 0 Australia 7 To the Plate then. Still some World Series points at stake here for these two as they try to qualify for the Olympics. Tight opening, then Ed Jenkins shimmies his way through the England line 40m out and goes under the posts. All the action is in England's half, though no clear chances. Some great defending from both sides

 

Meanwhile, here's some fans dressed as bowling pins

 

Bowl Final - France v Scotland 1730

FT Wales 0 Scotland 34 Scotland tremendous, and for once I'm not being ironic. Not sure how bad that makes Wales. Three cracking first half tries from Jinky Johnstone, Fraser Lyle and Lee Jones has them 19-0 up at half-time, and France quivering in their boots. Jones immediately steams in for another upon the restart, Mark Robertson adds another, and Chris Dean sneaks over on the hooter as the Rampant Lion treats the Hong Kong Stadium crowd to a festival of flowing rugby they'll remember for the rest of their lives.

FT Canada 19 France 38 Impressive display from the French and a decent atmosphere around the ground too, with plenty of support for Les Bleus, not least from a colourful and noisy contingent from the local international school at the top of the East Stand. Obviously it will all be in vain after Scotland unmercifully disembowel them in the final.

 

Shield Final - Japan v Kenya 1700

FT Japan 42 Belgium 7 Another hefty defeat for Belgium, as Japan get their first win of the tournament. A big Shield showdown to come against Kenya then

FT Kenya 21 Portugal 0 Kenya finally win a game at the fifth time of asking to reach the Shield final. Along with most people in the stadium, I wasn't exactly glued to the action ... let's be fair, no-one cares about the shield, as evidenced by the fact the Mexican wave has started up. The South Stand is full at last, about six hours later than it was yesterday

 

A video posted by HK_Magazine (@hk_magazine) on

Well, we just had the Kung Fu Rugby show which was ... sort of alright. Probably better than the next couple of games in the Shield to be honest. 

IMPORTANT NEWS reaches us from the South Stand, where one fan, leaving nothing to chance after the toilets went on the blink yesterday, decided to bring his own 

Robby Nimmo writes: 

Frustrated with the toilet situation last year, Dennis Durham, who works in drainage in Sydney, lashed out $50 Aus on his own camping toilet this year. "You're supposed to use a bucket, but they wouldn't let me bring one in the stadium," he said.

 

 

FT Zimbabwe 24 Spain 14 Spain collapse to the pitch after being knocked out by the Africans. Bit of a surprise, Spain had looked the best team of the Qualifier tournament to me and beat Zimbabwe 10-0 in the group stage. 

So it's Zimbabwe-Russia in the final for a place in the World Series ... probably pick Zimbabwe though a tough one to call. Suppose it would be good if Russia won just so we (Hong Kong) could at least say we were knocked out by the eventual winners 

FT PNG 7 Russia 26 Hong Kong's conquerors reach the qualifier final ... apart from that amazing insight I was busy elsewhere, sorry PNG and Russia fans

So, the Cup semis are as follows: 

Fiji v South Africa

New Zealand v Samoa

You'd have to fancy a Fiji-Kiwi final, but South Africa could certainly get there.

Up now it's the semis of the Qualifier Competition, or the Who-Cares-Now-That-HK-Are-Knocked-Out tournament as I know it

FT New Zealand 31 Argentina 21 Sherwin Stowers gets the Kiwis off the mark early on to make the gap more comfortable. Argentina mount some sustained pressure, but Rieko Ioane snuffs that out with a brilliant run back up to their 5m and Joe Webber sidesteps his way through and under the posts. Axel Muller pulls one back for the Argies, but it's very comfortable for the defending champions, who face Samoa in the semis. Jordan Bunce added another late on with a great run from halfway ... and then Argentina add another even later on from Rodrigo Etchart. Don't they know when they're beat?

HT New Zealand 14 Argentina 7 New Zealand were nearly upset by Portugal yesterday, but look a lot more focused today. From kick off they go straight under the posts, Beaudine Waaka completely erasing Argentina's defensive line by dropping his shoulder twice then sprinting in from 60m out. Fernando Luna then is sinbinned, making Argentina's task even tougher. Scott Curry makes them pay, skipping out of a weak tackle 40m out. Santiago Alvarez pulls one back just before half-time to make it interesting though, with the Kiwis going to sleep a bit, just like the South Stand

 

FT USA 15 Samoa 26 Slow start to the second half, Zack Test scores after three minutes, dragging Tom Iosefo behind him like a tyre in one of those training drills. Hopes of a comeback immediately extinguished as Lafaele Vaa grabs the kick off and sprints up the left touchline for try No.4. Test steams through with a minute to go for another, and Perry Baker adds one on the hooter, but too late. Samoa v New Zealand or Argentina (let's face it, New Zealand) in the semi.

HT USA 0 Samoa 21 Samoa come out firing, slip a couple of tackles and Greg Lealofi puts them up immediately. Straight from kickoff, Samoa Toloa gets on the ball and outsprints supposedly the 'fastest man in rugby', Carlin Isles. USA 14-0 down before they've even started. And once again, USA miss a tackle on Tila Mealoi to send Toloa in for his second. Possession stat something like 125% to Samoa. Toloa sinbinned for the last minute after kicking the ball away, but USA can't capitalise

 

FT South Africa 7 Australia 5 Tremendous defence from Australia, stopping South Africa about 5 times on the line ... eventually the humongous Werner Kok powers his way over and South Africa edge ahead with the conversion. Hard-fought game that between two sides that gave almost nothing away. Fiji-South Africa in the semis

HT South Africa 0 Australia 5 Phew ... hard act to follow that Fiji England game. Plenty of hard tackling but not much action early on, before Allan Fa'alava'au starts to fire up his sidestep engines and disrupts the South Africa line enough for Jesse Parahi to go over on the left corner. Anybody's game in the second half

 

FT Fiji 14 England 12 Fiji open the scoring early with a penalty try and Dan Norton sent to the sinbin. No idea why to be honest, Fiji seemed to have scored anyway, but maybe Norton held on in the tackle. Or something. Soon Fiji go down to six as Norton returns,  Semi Kunatani almost decapitates Dan Bibby. Didn't need to be a rugby rules expert to figure that one out. Fiji prevent an England try with a last-gasp interception, then there's some argy-bargy that threatens to get out of hand. Nice edge to this one. England ramp up the pressure and eventually find a gap, Norton scoring under the posts to make the gap two points with a minute to go. AMAZING finish, England doing everything but scoring as Fiji somehow deny them time and again on their line before finally winning a penalty. More handbags at the end. Brilliant game

HT Fiji 7 England 5 Very impressive start from England, keeping Fiji locked in their own 22 for nearly 5 minutes. Some tremendous last-ditch tackling from the Fijians, but eventually Phil Burgess finds a gap and goes over in the right corner. Terrific noise from the Fiji fans packing the North Stand, and some decent support for England too. Right as the hooter sounds Fiji score under the posts, Pio Tuwai simply dismissing an England attempt to tackle him on the 22, then setting up Jerry Tuwai to go under the posts

FT Scotland 28 Japan 7 Well, quite simply a performance that will send shockwaves around world rugby. So amazing I didn't actually pay attention, but Mark Robertson and Chris Dean scored the second-half tries which I will assume were simply sensational. Wales to knock over in the semis before reducing Canada or France to nothingness in the final

HT Scotland 14 Japan 7. The Land of the Rising Sun being punished mercilessly by the Land of Nae Sun. Jimmy 'Jinky' Johnstone living up to his namesake with the first, some Japanese feller equalising, then Scott Riddell waltzing over after the hooter. The stadium is quite literally uninterested by this dazzling display

FT Wales 38 Belgium 7 Pretty easy for the Welsh, but they'll have to face the unstoppable Scotland (P3 L2) in the semis, just as soon as we grind Japan mercilessly into the turf

10:19am Okay, just to get you caught up on the early action - It was Canada 21 Kenya 10 in the first Bowl quarter-final, and France 26 Portugal 14. As we speak, Wales are 14-7 up on Belgium at half-time, with Scotland ready to annhilate Japan in the remaining quarter.

Here's the main event QFs, from 10:58:

Fiji v England

South Africa v Australia

USA v Samoa

New Zealand v Argentina

The sun is fighting through the clouds and I'm just realising that I forgot to bring either hat or sunscreen ... don't make the same mistake. South Stand about 5% full of the hardiest revellers

Good morning from Hong Kong Stadium! Like most here, it's a bit of a late start for us today, but don't worry, we'll be here keeping you updated minute by minute until the bitter end.

On now is the Bowl competition for the also-rans, while the Cup kicks off in about an hour with Fiji v England

Meanwhile, catch up with our coverage from day 2 on the links to the right and here

And check out the day 2 highlights here: 

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