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Two tries from Alex McQueen lifted Hong Kong to a 19-7 victory over Uruguay and into the quarter-finals against Russia in the HSBC Sevens World Series qualifier competition on Saturday.
McQueen and Hong Kong bounced back from a below-par performance on opening day when they lost to Brazil 17-12, to beat Mexico 38-5 and secure a must-win game over the South Americans in their final pool match.
“We are building momentum and we can go all the way,” said an ecstatic McQueen who scored once in each half as the hosts squeezed through to victory in a tense encounter.
I’m chuffed scoring two tries and happy to get the win
Alex McQueen
Hong Kong will meet Russia and a win will push them into the semi-finals where they will take on the winners between Papua New Guinea and Uruguay. In the other half of the draw, favourites Spain meets South Korea while Zimbabwe take on Brazil.
Relief was written all over the faces of Hong Kong after the crucial win over Uruguay.
“All the pressure we have faced is the pressure we put on ourselves. We are confident knowing if we perform well we can win and with that comes the pressure to perform. We didn’t deliver yesterday [Friday] and put more pressure on ourselves,” McQueen said.
“I’m chuffed scoring two tries and happy to get the win. We had one hiccup on day one but still ended up in same place,” added the Hong Kong playmaker.
Despite defeating Mexico in their second pool game late Friday, Hong Kong needed to beat Uruguay to be certain of a place in the knockout phases.
Things began badly when Uruguay’s Sebastian Schroeder split the Hong Kong defence to score an early try. But Hong Kong hit back through McQueen to level the score at 7-7 at the break.Hong Kong could have scored twice more if not for taking wrong options and McQueen’s younger brother Tom dropping a pass with the try-line in sight.
Alex McQueen then added his second midway through the second-half despite the attention of two defenders to give the hosts breathing space before substitute Chris Maize sealed the result with an intercept try.
“I’m happy but we still made a few errors which put us under pressure,” said head coach Gareth Baber. “We got to address that but we found a way to win which is always important and we showed a lot of character.
“The group have 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,” Baber said.
McQueen also came in for special praise from Baber. “Alex orchestrates a lot of what we do and played really well today. He didn’t give us what was necessary in the first game but in the second and third he did what he normally does. He is a class player and when he is at his best he is difficult to stop,” Baber said.
“We are growing as a team and the hope is in three games time we can look back and say the turning point was losing that first game [to Brazil]. We have grown through a tough pool. A lot of people wrote the pool off to our peril but we have pulled it back and we are in a good position.”


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Alex McQueen brace lifts Hong Kong into qualifier quarter-finals

Hong Kong hero Alex McQueen forces his way through the Uruguay defence to score the second of his two tries in Saturday’s 19-7 pool victory. Photos: Nora Tam/SCMP

Chris Maize dives over to score an intercept try late in the Uruguay game.

Sport

Rugby

HK Sevens

Two tries from Alex McQueen lifted Hong Kong to a 19-7 victory over Uruguay and into the quarter-finals against Russia in the HSBC Sevens World Series qualifier competition on Saturday.


HSBC Sevens World Series 2014-15