Fixtures and Results from 2012 Hong Kong Sevens

Fiji won a high scoring Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens Final against arch rivals New Zealand to take its 13th title in Hong Kong.

The Fijians had humbled everyone before them over the whole tournament and took the game straight to their opponents in a ferocious encounter.

Fiji were two tries up after only 4 minutes, but even a relatively inexperienced New Zealand team can’t be ruled out and they fought back to tie the scores, 14-14, at half time. A try by Stefano Cakau early in the second put Fiji back in front, and this was extended to 14 points by Nikola Matawalu’s score a few minutes later. A Bryce Heem try put New Zealand back in touch with 2 minutes to go, but Waisea Nayacalevu’s instant reply sealed it for Fiji despite a late consolation try for New Zealand.

An emotional Fiji coach, Alavereti Dere said he was “very, very happy” after winning at his first attempt as coach in Hong Kong and as such becoming one of a very few players to win the Hong Kong Sevens as a player and coach. Commenting on how close the match was, he commented, “I think we wanted it more than New Zealand in the last ten minutes.”

Looking ahead to next week’s event in Tokyo, Dere said, “it really sets us up for next week and maintains us in the top two places in the IRB Sevens rankings.”

Also in the Cup, South Africa defeated England, 28-0, to take 3rd place, winning convincingly with four unanswered tries.

Samoa won a close contest in the last minute with a try from Taulagi Afamasaga, to defeat Argentina 12-10 to take home the Plate competition. Earlier in the Bowl Final, Kenya held on to win 14-12 against a competitive USA team.

In the all important Qualifier event, Canada took the spoils beating Spain 22-5 with a hat trick of tries from Sean Duke. There was consolation for Spain though, as they along with Canada and third place winners, Portugal, won the three spots on offer to join the HSBC Sevens World Series next year, guaranteeing them competition against the best teams in the world at ten series events.

Unfortunately, host Hong Kong were not able to capitalise on the their good form from the first two days, as a red card for playmaker Keith Robertson early in the game, made it very difficult for them against Japan, who eventually won through 10-5 in extra time after a gallant effort by the Hong Kong team.

Pictures from the 2012 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens already uploaded: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

Day Two - Saturday, 24 March 2012

An action packed day two of the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens delivered a few surprises in the Qualifier tournament, whilst the Core Series was dominated by the big teams.

New Zealand topped Pool B after beating Wales and then edging out South Africa in a closely fought battle for top spot. Fiji maintained their dominant form from Friday all through Saturday with comfortable wins against France and Australia.

Samoa and England played off in the last game of Day 2 with Samoa taking the spoils and top place in Pool A with a 14-12 win.

The results provide a tantalising prospect for Sunday, with some exciting match ups in the Quarter Finals. Top ranked Fiji will take on Argentina and will meet the winners of old rivals England or Australia in the Semi Final. New Zealand and Samoa could be set for a heavyweight Semi Final clash if they can come through against Wales and South Africa respectively.

In contrast, the Qualifier Tournament has seen some of the favoured teams falter, whilst others have thrived in the capacity-packed atmosphere of Hong Kong Stadium, in anticipation of gaining one of the three coveted places for the HSBC Sevens World Series in 2012/13. None more so than Hong Kong, who humbled Tonga early in the day before running away as convincing winners against neighbours China, 29-5. They head Pool D, ahead of Tonga who saw off a spirited Uruguay in their last match.

Hong Kong Assistant Coach Alex Gibbs said he was happy with the team’s performances, “I was particularly impressed with the composure and decision making. At times we have been down to 6 players, but we fought well and made the right decisions at the right time.”

In Pool E, Canada slipped up early in the day against Zimbabwe, but came though against Spain, 10-7, to top the Pool.

After early morning scares against Guyana and Japan, Portugal and Russia went head to head for top spot in Pool F with Portugal clinching first place with a 17-10 win.

The standings leave the Qualifier Tournament with all to play for for the eight teams who progressed. Hong Kong finished the top ranked side and will play eighth ranked and major rivals - Japan. Other Pool winners Portugal and Canada, face off against Zimbabwe and Russia respectively leaving Spain versus Tonga in the other quarter final.

Day One - Friday, 23 March 2012

The Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens got going in fine style on Friday afternoon, as a near capacity, 39,000 fans flooded in to the Hong Kong Stadium.

The new tournament format for this year has already lived up to expectations with a number of very close and competitive matches, with teams from both competitions really pushing hard to start their campaigns off on a positive note.

Hong Kong certainly got off to the start they wanted, with a 17-14 win over Uruguay in a physical and competitive match. A bright start took Hong Kong into a 10-0 lead, with tries from Tom McQueen and Ross Armour. Uruguay stayed in touch with a try just before half time, but Keith Robertson extended the lead early in the second, which was enough to hold off the South Americans.

“This is a sound start but we won’t get carried away with it. We need just one more win to ensure we book a quarterfinal place in the qualifying competition,” said a happy Hong Kong coach, Dai Rees.

Defending champions New Zealand got their campaign off to a winning start defeating the United States in their first pool game. The HSBC Sevens World Series leaders won 29-5 to lead the charge of the top teams on the opening night at So Kon Po.

Also winning their opening games were Fiji, England, South Africa and Samoa.

England saw off a determined challenge from Argentina, with tries from Dan Norton, Rob Vickerman and Mat Turner helping Ben Ryan’s team shake off the cobwebs to come from behind to win 19-10.

A solid defensive effort allowed South Africa to defeat Wales 10-0 while Samoa had an equally hard time before overcoming Kenya 19-7.

Fiji had the easiest opening day, knocking off Scotland 39-5 in an impressive display of power and pace.

In the Qualifier tournament, there were wins for Canada and Portugal over newcomers, Philippines and Guyana respectively, whilst other group favourites Tonga overcame a spirited China in their Pool D fixture.

Sevens World Cup host next year, Russia, also got their campaign off to a promising start with a solid win over Japan.

See also: Pictures of Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2012

Fixtures and Results from 2012 Hong Kong Sevens

Saturday, 24 March 2012

Sunday, 25 March 2012

See also: Pictures of Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2012. Pictures from the 2012 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens already uploaded: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

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