The good news for Hong Kong yesterday was that they will after all be playing in the Plate competition. The bad news . . . well, they come up against Tonga - a side they have lost to twice in the last fortnight.
Hong Kong, who at one stage yesterday looked doomed to play in the Bowl, came storming back with a 54-5 demolition of Thailand in their final pool game to ensure that they would avoid playing amongst the losers for the third year running.
The eight-try rout of the Thais, with Vaughan Going scoring a hat-trick, was enough for the territory to win the statistical game behind-the-scenes and join South Korea, Scotland and United States as the four best third-placed teams to move up into the Plate competition.
Knowing that they needed a minimum of six tries against the Thais to keep alive their Plate hopes, Hong Kong played their hearts out.
For the first time in the tournament, Robin Bredbury was given a run - his debut at the Hong Kong Sevens.
He played his role of playmaker perfectly setting up the moves with deft passes as Hong Kong went on the rampage.
He also got his name on the scorer's list, with a neat little try.
