Stephen Larkham’s ‘bashed’ Aussies fight through at Hong Kong 10s
- Classic Wallabies and Scotland’s Projecx Waterboys upset the seedings to progress into the Cup quarter-finals
- Samurai defeat debutants Mourant Fiji Army to rack up three dominating wins on day one
Stephen Larkham’s Classic Wallabies upset the seedings by reaching the Cup quarter-finals at the GFI HKFC 10s for the first time, while ninth seeds Projecx Waterboys, of Scotland, stunned defending champions Biarritz Gavekal on their way to topping pool A with three wins on Wednesday night.
Wendell “Big Dell” Sailor, Stephen Hoiles and Patrick Phibbs are representing the “Classics” for the third year in a row, but the presence of five Australia Sevens players and a younger squad overall helped the 11th seeds defeat Asia Pacific Dragons 19-5 and edge two-time champions Grove Penguins 14-12.
Larkham’s men lost 15-12 to hosts Natixis HKFC in their last pool C game and lost several players to injuries after a gruelling day for many teams, but still made it through to the top eight for the first time in their three appearances.
“I’m really proud of the effort by the guys. It has been a really tough day. It was the pool of death and you can see that,” said Larkham, the legendary former fly half who won 102 caps and helped Australia win the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
