Hong Kong Sevens 2019: USA Eagles hammer Spain as England survive Wales scare
- Eagles run in six tries to hammer Spain 36-7 to live up to their tag as tournament favourites
- England recover from sluggish start to see off Wales in pool D 34-19
The US hammered Spain 36-7 while Wales threw away a 14 point lead as England battled back to win their opening game 34-19 in pool D.
Coming into Hong Kong in the unusual position of being tournament favourites, Mike Friday’s Eagles laid down a marker on Friday night.
Stephen Tomasin ran in down the left within the first minute and Matai Leuta soon went over to make it 10-0.
Barely 20 seconds had passed before Martin Iosefo easily intercepted the ball and crossed, and Tomasin found another pocket to burst free and go over after the hooter had sounded, with the Eagles up 22-0.
Carlin Isles showed a quick turn of pace down the right with less than a minute gone in the second half, leaving Spanish defends for dead and running home to extend the lead to 29-0.
Spain finally had something to smile about when Josh Taylor offloaded to Alejandro Sanchez De La Rosa Hernandez, who burst through the middle and scored under the posts, before substitute Brett Thompson scored a breakaway try to give the US a final flourish.