The Hong Kong men’s and women’s sevens squads threw down the gauntlet on opening day of the Darwin Sevens, winning all of their pool matches to advance comfortably to Sunday’s knockout stages. The men won their three pool games against Northern Territory Mosquitoes (33-0), Outback Chiefs (46-5) and Zoo Sport (24-12). Tom McQueen was a destructive force, especially in the first two matches, and he finished the first day with three tries, as did Rowan Varty, Raef Morrison and Salom Yiu Kam-shing. Captain Jamie Hood, Nick Hewson, Kwok Ka-chun, Ben Rimene and Lee Jones all scored one try each. To have won all three games is a great start and hopefully we can continue that run Gareth Baber “We won our first match fairly comfortably 33-0 and I must admit that I was pleased with that one,” said coach Gareth Baber. “It was the first time that I had seen the players play in anger and they played well. “Our second game was in a similar vein, moving along in a good direction and playing well, but importantly some of the things that we have been working on over the past couple of weeks could be seen coming out in the game, which was positive. “Our final game against Zoo was a tougher match, but in fairness, we came through it pretty well. Credit to them, they raised their game against us, which is good because it is a mark of respect for us and the way that we are playing.” As winners of their pool, the Hong Kong men will play Sunday’s last Cup quarter-final at 12:50pm (Hong Kong time) against Tribe 7s, who finished runners-up in Pool A. “To have won all three games is a great start and hopefully we can continue that run,” Baber added. “It gets tougher, though, as we will play Tribe 7s who are an Australian development team. We watched them play and they have some real quality.” The Hong Kong women also progressed without a loss on day one, scoring 116 points while conceding only five as they made a clear claim that they will push for a Cup final place. The women opened the tournament with a 51-0 drubbing of Melbourne City Silverbacks and a 43-0 win over the Northern Territory Barbarians, setting up a clash with pool leaders Sydney University. Hong Kong easily upended the favoured Sydney side – the tournament’s second seeds overall – and the 22-5 victory helped them advance to the Cup quarter-finals. Women’s coach Anna Richards was pleased with the day’s results, especially as some of the key focuses of the week-long training camp in Darwin came through on the pitch. “Our focus for the week was getting the girls to focus at a certain time. We are calling it ‘lacing up’ time or when you put your rugby boots on, that is the time to start focusing and concentrating,” Richards said. “Previously, the girls have been a bit slow to warm up in training and at the start of games, but today they really came out and their focus was awesome. “We went in to today with that focus on accuracy, maintaining a good defensive line and putting pressure on the opposition. The girls achieved that in the first two games especially. We were actually very slick in these opening games and I was very happy. “The third match against Sydney University proved a tougher test, which was also good. It was hot today and the girls were feeling the effects of the day's play and the conditions, but they did very well in the final game, letting in just one try on the day and I’m very pleased with that,” Richards added. The Hong Kong women will play the first quarter-final of the day against East Arnhem – the fourth-ranked side from the other half of the eight-team women’s tournament.