Australia’s mens rugby sevens team suffered a shock quarter final loss in the Dubai Sevens, losing 21-12 to Wales before recovering to finish fifth.

Wales were the first to strike in the quarter final to go out to a 7-0 lead before the Australians levelled things at 7-7.

Simon Kennewell then scored to give Australia a 12-7 lead at the break before Wales came roaring back with 14 unanswered points to take the victory.

The loss left the team and coach Andy Friend haveily disappointed.

“We were really disappointed this morning with that performance to Wales,” Friend said.

“Credit to Wales they are a good aside and they played better than us and they took their chances.”

The loss seemed to steel the Australians resolve and they went on to beat New Zealand 20-12 and then Scotland 19-12 to eventually finish fifth.

The win over New Zealand saw tries to Boyd Killingworth, Sam Myers, Henry Hutchison and Alex Gibbon.

Myers was again at the heart of the scoring against Scotland.

he burned the covering the Scottish defence after a solid passage of play to take the score 5-0, before a late converted try to the Scots gave them the 7-5 lead heading into the break.

The second half saw the same struggle between the two teams as defence was the order of the day on tired legs.

Again, Australia struck first with a try that allowed the men in gold to take the lead 12-7 before Tim Anstee buried the Scots with a late try.

Friend was happy with the way his team bounced back and especially happy to get past New Zealand.

“It’s massive for us to beat New Zealand, it’s a good feeling and the performance we put out against Scotland was special for the team.”