Stadium buzz builds as Sevens enters its finals approach

We’re fast approaching the business end of the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens with the Plate, Bowl and Shield finalists already decided.

In the Plate, South Africa look favourites to win the competition after disposing of the USA 24-19. It’ll only be a consolation prize though, after they were put out in the Cup quarter-finals by England (14-7).

South Africa got off to the worst possible start today when their influential captain Kyle Brown had to withdraw from the tournament because of concussion. But they were still too strong for the USA with a brace of tries each coming from Stephan Dippenaar and Jamba Ulengo.

In the Plate final they’ll get to grips with last year’s beaten Cup finalists, Wales. The Welsh romped to a 31-14 victory over a weary-looking Canada side in the other semi-final.

Scotland proved too strong for Argentina in the Bowl semi-final. Tries from Mark Robertson, Lee Jones, Mark Bennett and James Eddie easing them to a 24-12 win. France will be their opposition in final after they had an impressive 38-5 win over Samoa.

Meanwhile, a hat-trick of tries from Duarte Moreira and one from David Mateus helped Portugal to a 24-19 victory over Sri Lanka in the Shield semi-final. They move on to the final to play Kenya who saw off Spain 12-7 after tries from Collins Injera and Daniel Sikuta.