The fresh-faced Australian sevens showed speed, strength and great recovery to qualify top of Pool D in day one of the Gold Coast Sevens.
The Aussies finished the day with two wins and a draw at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast.
Game One saw Australia take on Scotland, starting strongly with multiple phases, however Scotland were awarded a penalty for an infringement at the breakdown.
Excellent defence resulted in Australia turning over the ball, and debutant winger Alex Gibbon running through the Scottish defence being stopped metres from the tryline. But it was a wide ball to Sean McMahon who scored the first points for Australia.
After only three minutes, Australia led 7-0 with the conversion from veteran James Stannard.
Minutes before half time, Australia expanded their lead to 14-0 with a try from Nick Malouf who stepped superbly through the Scottish defence to score directly under the posts.
The second half saw an excellent display of defence from Australia, who managed to trap Scotland in the 22, being rewarded with a penalty. Con Foley scored under the posts, followed by another conversion from Stannard to put Australia ahead to 21-0.
Then the Scots came back firing. A long range converted try was awarded to Mark Robertson followed by Scott Riddel who scrapped over the line, converted by Robertson to take the score to 21-14.
In a devastating final 35 seconds, despite a long charge from Jesse Parahi, the Scots managed to turn over the ball and race over the line. With the full time siren and a conversion from Alex Glashan, the full time score ended in an unlikely 21-all draw.
Despite this first disappointing result, the Aussies rose to defeat Argentina in an afternoon game.
The Argentinians took an early lead with a converted try to take the score to 7-0. Australia promptly answered with a try of their own from new comerer, Nick Malouf to make the score 7-5.
Gold Coast local Shannon Walker then followed with another try, after a break from Sydneysider Cameron Clark putting the Aussies in front 10-7.
Nick Malouf scored a double with a conversion from Cam Clark to put the Aussies ahead 17-7 at half time.
In the second half, Tom Lucas recorded his debut try, giving the Aussie’s a final score of 22-7, and their first win over Argentina in Game two.
Australia met Samoa in their final game of the day, knowing either a win or draw would qualify them for the Cup quarter finals.
Determined, the Aussies put the first points on the board with a try from captain, Ed Jenkins. With a Cam Clark conversion, Australia led 7-0 going into half time despite some strong play from Samoa.
The second half began with Shannon Walker replacing Nick Malouf. Clearly a great move from coach Michael O’Connor as Walker then raced down the sideline for a 60-metre try.
Despite Clark missing the final conversion, the Aussies finished on top 12-0, and atop Pool D. Australia face Kenya tomorrow.
Only New Zealand and South Africa remain undefeated after the first day’s play.
Notable hatricks came from Ilai Tinai, Fiji and Dan Bibby, England, with both sides set to face off against each other in the Cup quarter-finals.
Other notable highlights included a dominant Kenyan side defeating Tonga 38-0, with a total of six tries, while South Africa defeated France 29-5.
Canada defeated Wales 19-14, despite a try from the Welshmen in the final 90 seconds. This was Canada’s eighth ever win over their Welsh opponents in 28 games.
Day two will include more action from the HSBC World Series Sevens.
