Hong Kong Sevens 2015 live blog - Day 2
It's crunch time as the lineups for the knockout stages become clear - follow us and you won't miss a moment of the action
So .... that's it from Day 2. What have we learned?
Bring sunscreen if you've get a big bald forehead and will be sitting in the press box all day is my main takeaway from the day, not sure how widely applicable that is.
New Zealand had one of the worst results they'll have had in a long time, drawing against Portugal, yet their path is clear to the final: Argentina in the quarters, then USA or Samoa.
Fiji look seriously impressive, as do South Africa, but one of them is going out before the final; they play England and Australia respectively in the quarters.
Meanwhile, there was more disappointment for Hong Kong, punished relentlessly at the breakdown by a stronger Russia to exit the Qualifier competition at the quarter-final stage. Little consolation in the fact that they didn't look good enough to beat Spain, the likely winners.
The action starts again at 9.30am tomorrow, though we might give the Bowl competition a bit of a miss in favour of an extra hour in bed. The Cup starts at 10:58 tomorrow with Fiji v England, see you then
FT Spain 47 South Korea 7 That's a paggering for the Koreans - Spain my favourite to win this qualifier and get back to the top flight. They play Zimbabwe next
FT Zimbabwe 21 Brazil 14 More comfortable than it looked by the scoreline from Zimbabwe, who go through to the qualifier semis. I'll be honest, my level of interest in this qualifying competition plummeted as soon as Hong Kong went out.
FT Hong Kong 0 Russia 24 And that's it. Very disappointing from Hong Kong, who in truth were never in this game at all. They came in with high hopes of joining the World Series, but that's over for another year at least
TRY! Hong Kong 0 Russia 24 Try No.4 from Russia, Ivan Kotov. Hong Kong just haven't got out their own 22 this half and the dream of joinining the big league is over
TRY! Hong Kong 0 Russia 19 Constant pressure from Russia, who just seem bigger and stronger than HK, eventually tells through Vladimir Ostroushko, and that's got to be game over you feel. 4 minutes left
HT Hong Kong 0 Russia 12 Try-saving tackle from Hong Kong at the death or it would have been game over. Massive second half required
TRY! Hong Kong 0 Russia 12 HK keep possession for a while, but then are caught napping by a kick to the right corner; Jamie Hood can't catch Ilya Babaev who scores at the posts
HK nearly pull one back immediately, but Tom McQueen is stopped just shy of the line
TRY! Hong Kong 0 Russia 5 Very bad start from Hong Kong, losing possession straight from kick off then pinned in their 22 for nearly two minutes before Vladislav Lazarenko finally scores
FT Papua New Guinea 38 Uruguay 10 Very impressive from PNG, who completely outplay Uruguay from start (almost) to finish. Hat trick for Wesley Vali. They play the winner of Hong Kong Russia, up next, in the semis. Most of the South Stand appears to have offed to f***, perhaps having had enough of the sun.
Meanwhile, here's the Cup line up for tomorrow:
Fiji v England
South Africa v Australia
USA v Samoa
New Zealand v Argentina
FT Fiji 45 Canada 0 Substitute Jasa Veremalua gets the score ticking after the break, with a 60-yarder. Josaia Raisuque adds another, then Canada are denied even a late consolation on the line. What a hammering. Fiji top pool A, Samoa 2nd
HT Fiji 31 Canada 0 Savenaca Rawaca sets Fiji away immediately in Pool A decider, skipping away on halfway on the right touchline and steaming home. Viriviri quickly adds another, bamboozling Canada in his own half and driving under the posts. Too easy. With a similar burst from 60m moments later, he sets up Osea Kolinisau for No.3. Straight from kick off, Rawaca bags another - what's happened to Canada, who've looked decent before this? PS, another on the hooter, Isake Katonibau. A pounding
FT New Zealand 14 Australia 5 New Zealand camp in Australia's 22 for three and half minutes before finally working an angle for Ioane to go over on the left corner. Another excellent conversion from Beaudine Waaka. Aussies pull one back through Jesse Parahi after a great initial burst from deep from Shannon Walker. New Zealand top the group ahead of Australia
HT New Zealand 7 Australia 0 A cricket World Cup final preview. Cagey for the opening four minutes then Shannon Walker sees yellow for Australia and Rieko Ioane immediately scores. That's it for the first half
FT South Africa 29 France 7 South Africa shove their way over from a 5m scrum shortly after the restart to all but end France's hopes of sneaking into the quarters, the hugely impressive Werner Kok powering through. Senatla adds another as France surrender, and then completes his hat trick with a brilliant 50m kick-chase. Top try scorer in the World Series. So it's South Africa 1st, Argentina 2nd in Pool C
HT South Africa 12 France 7 South Africa steam into the lead through Kyle Brown, but France are much improved from their dire display against Argentina and hit back through Stephen Parez. A dashing run by Seabelo Senatla restores South Africa's advantage at halftime
FT USA 21 England 21 Another try from the super-impressive Maka Unufe, USA camped in England's 22 for a couple of minutes before the jinking Unufe is finally played in. But it continues end-to-end, Williams getting a second of his own for England with a nice sidestep and dart into the right corner. Game of the tournament so far. USA reduced to six for the last few minutes, but England can't score and it's a draw. Need to do some maths to see who tops the group and (probably) avoids Fiji
HT USA 14 England 14 Finally a meaningful game. Hong Kong supposed to be home away from home for England, but USA fans making much more noise (at the start at least) and their team is first off the mark through Perry Baker. After some lovely rugby from England through multiple phases, Charlie Hayter sends Jeff Williams free to equalise. USA hit back though, through Maka Unufe, after a scrum down on England's five-metre and some quick hands. USA make a mistake in England's half though, and Tom Mitchell takes on Folau Niua in a 50m dash down the wing. He gets clipped shy of the tryline, but back on his feet to score
FT Samoa 29 Belgium 5 Another decent-ish display from the Belgians, who are not the whipping boys some (ie me) thought they might be. But three defeats from three in a tough group. Samoa, Fiji and Canada all have two wins in this pool now, with Fiji and Canada facing off in the last world series game of the day in about an hour.
FT Scotland 14 Portugal 12 Two more of the weaker teams ... this post-lunch scheduling is perfect for nap-lovers. The mighty Scotland crush the titans of world rugby by a massive two points. So neither qualify for the quarters. Zzzz
FT Argentina 19 Japan 14. Unlucky on Japan, as they continue to struggle ... could they be replaced in the top division by Hong Kong this weekend? Argentina have been solidly impressive this weekend, and again did just enough. Up now Scotland-Portugal, and if Portugal wins New Zealand could be staring at an unlikely early exit ...
FT Kenya 12 Wales 19 Fairly uninspiring game between two sides who can't qualify for the Cup quarters that one ... 5-5 at half-time, and Kenya seemed to have won it before tries from [insert player name here] Rhodri Williams and Luke Morgan
THE BIG NEWS is that the flushing system at the Hong Kong Stadium toilets have been fixed ... Queue 40,000 people rushing to drop deuce.
Aaand we're back. The Village People are currently wowing the crowd with their amazing pop classics. In my opinion, they were pump 40 years ago, and they're pump now, although the South Stand seem to be enjoying it. They have been drinking in the sun for 7 hours, to be fair.
Worrying rumours coming in that a Fijian fan may have died in the South Stand ... should stress that's unconfirmed hearsay at the moment. I did get an email from a fan this morning about a separate incident last night when a Papua New Guinean had to be defibrillated. Again, all rumour and hearsay ... more as it comes.
Earlier, we had the march past of nations, and the 'Magnificent Seven' players of the tournament's 40-year history were honoured. Action starts again in five minutes.
And as far as I know, the sh**ters are still banjaxed, to use technical language.
FT Fiji 38 Belgium 7 Routine win for Fiji, but not the annihilation debutants Belgium might have feared. Fiji up 21-7 at half-time through Amenoni Nasilasila, Vatemo Ravouvou, Samisoni Viriviri, then added a few more from Savenaca Rawaca, Josai Raisuque and Ravouvou. Vincent Hart got plucky little Belgium's score.
Now the avant-garde musical stylings of the Village People to entertain the crowd ... which means I'm taking a well-earned break
No update on the toilet situation so far ... Just seen somebody tweet a pic of a lad going for a slash in a pint glass in the South Stand - probably more sanitary than the lavvies to be fair.
FT Canada 17 Samoa 24 Strange game ... tight first half then Samoa raced away in the second half - but then Canada pulled two tries back in the dying seconds. Got to admit I wasn't paying the closest attention ... the concentration is starting to wane, luckily we've got a break after this next game. Well, the Village People are playing, but I'd rather grill my head than watch that
FT New Zealand 24 Portugal 24 Wow, what a display from Portugal, albeit Kiwis probably playing with plenty in reserve. New Zealand up through Ambrose Curtis, teen star Rieko Ioane and Beaudine Waaka before Portugal made it 17-12 through Aderito Esteves and Diogo Mateus. Curtis quickly stretched the lead once more, but Portugal scored again from the not-very-Iberian-sounding Carl Murray. Nuno Guedes then snuck over right on the hooter to tie it up at 24-24 ... but he missed the kick to win it. Kiwis won't be happy, with a showdown against the Aussies to come later
Meanwhile one narcissisist has proposed to another we've had a heart-melting marriage proposal on the pitch ... another beautiful romance at the Sevens
FT Australia 21 Scotland 5. Australia somehow fluke and cheat their way to victory over the mighty unbeatable Scottish conquering army, who have now lost two from two. Pama Fou and Con Foley in the first half for the Aussies, then Nick Malouf before a consolation from Russell Weir. Pump.
FT South Africa 27 Japan 0. Pretty comfortable from South Africa, who scored a cracking try almost from kick off from the impressive Werner Kok and led 17-0 at half-time with further scores from Stephan Dippenaar and Justin Geduld. More tries after the break from Kwagga Smith, Rosko Specman. South Africa twice down to six men but Japan stil couldn't capitalise.
Meanwhile, I've been told the toilets here are "literally full of sh*t" ... another triumph for Asia's World City
FT France 5 Argentina 26 Well that was utter gash from France, disappointing their fans from the French International School at the top of the East Stand ... 19-0 down at half-time then immediately conceding again on the restart, before a consolation at the end of a tedious second half. In other news, Argentina have a player by the splendid name of German Schulz.
Beautiful weather at the stadium now ... pity it will soon be a river of fecal matter unless they get the flushing water fixed.
Al Murray the Pub Landlord has been on to justify his appearance fee by waving at each stand. Bizarre signing
FT USA 40 Wales 12 Impressive win from the US against a pretty crap looking Wales, it has to be said. USA scored their first with 6 men (Madison Hughes) then made it 21-5 at half time through Zack Test and Hughes again. Perry Baker and Test (2) stretched the lead in the second half with a Wales try from, er ... someone probably surnamed Williams
Here's reaction from Hong Kong coach Gareth Baber to his team's qualification for the Qualifier Quarters
"Happy, but still a few errors which put us under pressure; we've got to address that but we found a way to win which is always important, showed a lot of character.
"The group has collected themselves for the second and third game and put us in the quarter-final which was always our aim entering the tournament and we are at this stage.
"Alex McQueen [two tries] played well. He didn’t give us what was necessary in the first game but in two and three he did what he normally does. He is a class player and when he is at his best he is difficult to stop, he orchestrates a lot of what we do.
"Hopefully [we're growing as a team] so hopefully in three games' time we can look back and say the turning point was losing that first game. Mind games going all over the place.
"The approach is just take every game as it comes and give the respect opposition is due and plan accordingly. We are growing, gone through a tough pool people write the pool off to our peril but we pulled it back and are in a good position."
FT England 17 Kenya 7 Wasn't paying attention, too busy failing to properly work out who Hong Kong play next. England 10-0 up at half time through Tom Bowen and James Rodwell, Collins Injera pulled one back, then Phil Burgess sealed it. Two wins out of two for England
It's just been announced "NO FLUSHING WATER ANYWHERE IN THE STADIUM" ... God almighty ...
UPDATE - just been confirmed: Thought the announcer confirmed my workings, but World Rugby have just tweeted this for the qualifying draw
PNG v Uruguay
Hong Kong v Russia
Zimbabwe v Brazil
Spain v South Korea
I'll await some official confirmation on that, but it looks like a rematch against Brazil, who stunned Hong Kong in their opener,
So it's Russia who look strong but no great shakes, then PNG or Uruguay who we just beat. Should be doable, but we've said that plenty of times before.
On now, England v Kenya
FT - TRY! Hong Kong 19 Uruguay 7 GET IN! Just as Uruguay try to fight back, Sevens debutant Chris Maize intercepts a pass on their 22 and steams in for the winner. Massive for HK, who top Pool E
TRY! Hong Kong 12 Uruguay 7 Second of the game for Alex McQueen, HK winning lineout on their right, spreading it to the left, then spreading it all the way back again through several phases in Uruguay's 22. Less than a minute to go
2 mins left ... still nip and tuck - HK miss another chance as Jamie Hood's pass is intercepted
Second half underway and HK have been pinned back for all of it so far - finally they break but Tom McQueen knocks on a simple pass when the tryline was beckoning
HT Hong Kong 7 Uruguay 7 Jamie Hood boots it out for half-time ... nothing in this at all. Next score could win it
TRY! Hong Kong 7 Uruguay 7 Hong Kong keep the ball through five or six phases in Uruguay's 22, then take a quick tap pen. Varty is halted just on the line, but feeds it back for Alex McQueen for the leveller. Two minutes left in the half
TRY! Hong Kong 0 Uruguay 7. Uruguay win lineout on their left on HK's 22, then work it across the pitch for Sebastian Schroeder to score in the corner. Bad start for Hong Kong, who haven't been out of their half in the opening couple of minutes
10:48 FT Russia 17 Papua New Guinea 26 So PNG top Pool F ahead of Russia - Hong Kong shouldn't fear either - that is, if they qualify. Here they come for MUST-WIN game against Uruguay
10:27 FT Spain 10 Zimbabwe 0 Impressive win from Spain against a tough Zimbabwe to win Pool G. They look like being the top-ranked first placed team in the qualifier competition. Up now, Russia v PNG to decide the winner of Pool F then Hong Kong.
Hong Kong starting 7: Wright, Woodward, Jones, Hood, Varty, A McQueen, T McQueen
10:12 FT Brazil 33 10 Mexico 10 - The more-impressive-than-we-thought Brazil, who stunned Hong Kong yesterday, finish with 2 wins in Pool E. So If Hong Kong can't beat Uruguay, they will finish third. It looks like they will still qualify as one of the best third-place teams, but would face a tougher draw. The task is simple - beat Uruguay to win the group.
Meanwhile, I've been told that there's nine holding pens for the South Stand, each with an hour wait. So if you start queueing now you might get in tomorrow.
Good morning, and welcome to day 2 of the city's biggest bunfight-stroke-sporting-spectacle.
The South Stand is absolutely rammed already, so if you were hoping to get in there, good luck with that.
So far you - and by that I mean I - have missed Tonga 36 Guyana 24 and South Korea 21 Tunisia 7 in the qualifying competition. Really we're mainly concerned with Hong Kong v Uruguay in about an hour (1050 kickoff), the winner of whom will top the group.
The 'big teams' kick off at 1112 with England v Kenya.
Here's highlights of yesterday's action:
If you're on your way up Caroline Hill Road in need of sodium and fat, I can heartily recommend the Butchers Club bacon butties by the way (I'm easily bought).
