Monday 23 May, 2016

Australia finish fourth in World Series despite indifferent London Sevens

The Qantas Australian Men's Sevens team has finished the 2015-16 HSBC Sevens World Series in fourth despite a disappointing weekend at Twickenham.

Andy Friend's much-changed side finished tenth after a Bowl Final defeat to Wales (24-19). Earlier, Australia had beaten Portugal (17-12) and Samoa (22-21) after dropping out of the Cup competition on Day One.

Despite the below-par showing in London, Australia accrued enough points from the weekend to seal fourth spot in the World Series standings and its highest final placing since 2009-10.

Qantas Australian Men's Sevens Head Coach Andy Friend said: "Obviously the Bowl competition is not where we want to be though there were some positives to come out from the weekend.

"To get Pama [Fou] back on the field doing what he does well - taking restarts and scoring tries - was a plus. He had a solid tournament and Henry Hutchison proved himself once again to be a world-class talent. It was also good for Jesse [Parahi] to get another tournament under his belt."

On today's games, Friend added: "I was really disappointed with the game against Portugal. We didn't play smart and we weren't physical enough even though we managed to get the win. I was happier with the display against Samoa and we were certainly more clinical with the ball but we simply couldn't hold of the footy against Wales which, in the sixth game of a tough weekend, really hurt us."

Australia qualified for the Bowl Semi-Finals after a scratchy win over a Portugal side that knew defeat would see them relegated as a core side from the World Series for next season.

Pressure early on from the Australians eventually saw Frank Winterstein slip past the opposition defence to dot down for his first World Series points. Tiago Fernandes finished off a fine move to bring the Portuguese to within two points but Sam Figg and Henry Hutchison scored back-to-back tries to give Australia a healthy lead heading into the final two minutes.

However, Joan Belo bundled over to give Portugal late hope and despite having a golden opportunity to level matters after the siren, Australia held on for an unconvincing victory.

A see-saw battle with last weekend's Paris Sevens Cup Winners Samoa eventually saw Australia get over the line by just a solitary point in a nervy affair.

John Porch crossed over from close range in the first minute and Henry Hutchison benefitted from a neat Pama Fou offload to cross over in the right corner. Samoa hit back though to lead at the break after Tila Mealoi's clever chip and chase before skipper Faalemiga Selesele sliced through the Australian defence to score a try of his own.

Hutchison held off the challenge of two Samoan defenders to restore his side's lead and Tom Kingston extended the advantage to eight points when he reached out to score. Alefusio Tapili once again ensured a grandstand finish when he scored a converted try but once again, the Aussies held on.

In the Bowl Final, the lead changed hands four times as Wales eventually run out winners over Australia. John Porch gave the green and gold the lead with his team's first possession of the game only for Rhodri Williams to restore parity just before half-time after Frank Winterstein was yellow-carded for a high shot.

Luke Treharne gave the Welsh the lead early in the second period but Tom Kingston responded straight away with his ninth try of the season. However, two tries in less than a minute from Ben Roach and James Benjamin took the game away from Australia. Pama Fou outpaced the Wales defence on the left to bring the Australians to within five points but it proved no more than a consolation.

Elsewhere at the London Sevens, Scotland won its first-ever Cup Final in World Series history after dramatically scoring twice in the last 30 seconds to defeat series runners-up South Africa (27-26). The USA surprisingly defeated this season's World Champions Fiji (26-19) to take third.

World Rugby will announce the winner of the Rookie of the Year later this morning (AEST) with 19-year-old Australian outside back Henry Hutchison among the nominees alongside Bautista Ezcurra (Argentina), Pheonix Hunapo-Nofoa (Samoa) and Regan Ware (New Zealand). Hutchison scored 27 tries in seven tournaments throughout the 2015-16 HSBC Sevens World Series.

ENDS

Qantas Australian Men's Sevens results in London, England
Australia 22-10 Wales, Pool B
Australia 7-10 England, Pool B
Australia 0-26 Fiji, Pool B
Australia 17-12 Portugal, Bowl Quarter-Final
Australia 22-21 Samoa, Bowl Semi-Final
Australia 19-24 Wales, Bowl Final

Final placings for the London Sevens (Top 10): 1. Scotland (22 World Series points), 2. South Africa (19 points), 3. USA (17 points), 4. Fiji (15 points), 5. New Zealand (13 points), 6. Argentina (12 points), 7. England / France (10 points), 9. Wales (9 points), 10. Australia (8 points)

Final 2015-16 HSBC World Series standings (Top 6): 1. Fiji (181 World Series points), 2. South Africa (171 points), 3. New Zealand (158 points), 4. Australia (134 points), 5. Argentina (119 points), 6. USA (117 points)