A huge, noisy and colourful crowd were treated to spectacular entertainment on and off the pitch inside the new Kai Tak stadium on the second day of the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
At the end of a pulsating day of HSBC SVNS action there were four men’s and four women’s teams left in with a shot of taking the title on Sunday as the semi-final line-up was decided.
Reigning women’s SVNS Champions Australia set up a semi-final against France, while Canada will take on New Zealand in a repeat of the 2024 Olympic final as the big guns progressed from the quarter-finals on Saturday.
In the men’s competition SVNS leaders Argentina will play Australia while Hong Kong favourites Fiji face Olympic champions France in Sunday’s semi-finals.
Canada became the first team to reach the women’s semi-finals with their 26-17 success over Fiji and they will face New Zealand after the Black Ferns Sevens overcame Bazil 31-7 in the quarter-finals. Canada captains Olivia Apps said: "We haven’t won too many cup finals. It would mean everything to make history with this group."
Michaela Brake (nee Blyde) scored two of her team's five tries to leapfrog Canada's Ghislaine Landry in the all-time points scoring list. Now on 1 359 points, she has her compatriot Tyla King in her sights and said: It is one of my goals to be ahead of Tyla. I love her to bits but I'm so competitive."
Earlier in the day New Zealand captain and double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Hirini scored her 100th try against Brazil to continue her stellar international rugby sevens career.
Australia produced a fine five-try performance to beat the USA 35-5 with Faith Nathan and Maddison Levi scoring two apiece and Kiiahla Duff once. Australia's semi-final opponents are France, who showed a similar dominance in their 34-0 quarter-final win over Japan.
Australia recorded a convincing 34-5 win over Great Britain to secure their semi-final berth, with a hat-trick of tries from captain Henry Paterson, who said: “We have the confidence in the belief that we can beat anyone. I think that’s what we’re trying to drill into these young boys that when we are playing our best footy, we are world-class and we’re a top two, top four team – we should be playing in those last games on Sunday.” They fill face Argentina who were made to work hard for a 22-14 victory over Ireland.
The pick of the quarter-finals saw Spain come from three tries down to tie the score with Fiji and take the match to golden point extra-time when a penalty from Iowane Teba won the match 31-28 for Fiji. Olympic champions France also came from behind, after conceding two early tries to New Zealand, they scored via Gregoire Arfeuil twice and Joe Quere Karaba to seal a 21-14 win.
Alongside Hong Kong glory teams are also playing for vital ranking points in the race to finish in the top eight positions at the end of the sixth round of HSBC SVNS 2025 in Singapore next weekend in order to qualify for the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles on 3-4 May.
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