After the thrilling events of Day One and Day Two of the 2014 Hong Kong 7s, Australia beat all challengers in Pool B and earned the right to play in the Finals on Sunday.
Quarter Final: As winners of Pool B, Australia will play the second seeded team of Pool C, Canada, at 2:34 pm AEST.
Australia score a try on the full time siren to snatch a win from Canada in the Cup Quarter-final!
Canada and Australia last met at Plate Final the Wellington 7s in February 2014, winning a tight affair 12-10. Australia has played Canada 38 times in the World Series, winning 34 of those times. Canada last defeated Australia in the Las Vegas Bowl Final in 2012, 19-17.
With this recent history of close matches, this Quarter Final couldn’t be called a easy win – especially considering that Canada had taken a very good England side to the wire, losing to a piece of Dan Norton brilliance with seconds to go on the clock.
Canada did well in their pool, in spite of the aforementioned loss to the Poms. They defeated Portugal 35-7, and Argentina 14-7. England, while winning the pool, had only beaten Portugal 21-7, and had only beaten Argentina 19-7.
Though we may have beaten South Africa and taken the “easier” route to the final, South Africa may have lucked out in coming second.
Semi Final: If Australia beats Canada, we will be in line to play either New Zealand or Wales in the Semi-Final at 6:16 pm AEST.
New Zealand win 28-5 over Wales in a one sided affair.
New Zealand have been simply colossal thus far in the tournament, and no other team has simply come close to challenging them. The Darkness obliterated Scotland 33-0 in their opening match of the Tournament, and followed that up by crushing Samoa 26-7. Day Two saw the US come the closest of any team yet to New Zealand at 17-7. While the scoreboard was close, this didn’t reflect the match. New Zealand had almost complete control over every facet of the game.
Wales, on the other hand, struggled to make it to the finals after landing in the Pool of Death. Wales succumbed to a truly fantastic Fiji side 42-7 in their opening match, but managed to come from behind and score in the final seconds of their match against Kenya to win 10-7. For their final game, Wales took their turn mopping the floor with Sri Lanka 47-12.
Historically, Wales have only beaten New Zealand once in 13 years. That, I believe, says it all.
Grand Final: If Australia progress past New Zealand, they will play England at 9:00 pm AEST
England have beaten Fiji in an upset in the First Semi-Final 17-7. Fiji seemed to have run out of spark halfway through the second half, and though they managed to score a lone try, a classic one-for-the-ages comeback wasn’t there for the Fijians today. England progress to the Grand Final.
Fiji have beaten the United States 17-5, and for the first time Fiji have been threatened by another side.
England have beaten South Africa in the Quarter Final by a score, set up by a long Dan Norton run in the final minute of the game.
Fiji were one of the two simply dominant teams in the Tournament, peeling off an average score of 47 points a game against Wales, Kenya, and Sri Lanka in Pool A. Fiji, however, survived a real scare from the United States – who very nearly equalised their Quarter-Final in a massive effort. Alas, Fiji were too classy down the stretch and won the game 17-5 amidst a storm of boo’s. Fiji have shown in their Quarter Final that weaknesses exist, and maybe they aren’t so perfect after all.
England won Pool C by a last minute try against Canada, and despite their potential and extreme talent haven’t dominated the competition like traditional favourites New Zealand and Fiji. England may continue their underperformance in to the Final’s, and may very well be knocked out by an on-song SA team in the Quarter Final. If, however, the slide can be arrested by Coach Simon Amor, England are one of the best teams in Hong Kong this year – boasting a great combination athleticism, speed and playmaking ability, as well as enjoying “home ground advantage” in Hong Kong.
