Australia excel at Hong Kong Sevens

Australia has finished top of their pool at the Hong Kong Sevens campaign, winning all three of their pool matches.

They began things with a narrow 22-19 win over Samoa before thrashing South Korea 52-0 and pipping England 12-10.

Coach Andy Friend was especially pleased with the win over England, saying the side must back it up again in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

“I thought it was a great game of rugby when we beat England,” Friend said.

“For our blokes to hold on and get that win, showed a lot of character and it’s really good for their momentum and confidence.

“We know now that we can beat those tops side and hopefully it gives the team some belief and we’ll keep building on that.”

New Zealand overcame the disruption of losing captain Scott Curry for the entire tournament to beat Wales 19-7 in their opening match.

Curry withdrew from the three-day event on Friday because of flu, forcing the team into a last-minute reshuffle.

Sam Dickson was promoted into the squad for the stricken Curry while DJ Forbes took over as captain and marked his promotion by scoring one of his team’s three tries.

New Zealand then beat Japan 33-14 before going down 17-14 to Fiji in their final match.

The Fijians, who have beaten New Zealand in the last two Hong Kong finals, made an ominous start by thrashing Japan 36-0 but had a 17-all draw with Wales in their next match.

England, last-round winners in Vancouver, were also impressive in crushing South Korea 52-0 in Pool A, and they also beat Samoa 12-10.

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