Surprises in Hong Kong

AS expected the Southern Hemi sphere teams domi nated the Hong Kong rugby sevens but there were a few surprises.

Favourites West ern Samoa were bundled out of the tournament by a de termined Australian side led by David Campese, in the semi-finals. After de

feating defending

champion Fiji in last

year’s final with a power-house per formance, and fresh

from their Canberra sevens win this year, big things were expected of Western Samoa. But Australia had other ideas defeating them 20-17.

Fiji, the most consistent winner over the years in Hong Kong, looked bewil dered as New Zealand ran away to a 21-7 lead at half-time. Fiji slowly clawed its way back in the second half and were just one converted try away from getting back into the game when Eric Rush scorched down the side-line to seal victory for the Kiwis. New Zealand won 28-14.

With speedsters Rush, Luke Erenavula and Jonah Lomu, New Zea land scored two quick tries to put Fiji on the defensive. Three of New Zealand’s tries came from missed tackles as the Kiwis punched holes in Fiji’s defence.

New Zealand stuck to the basics of sevens rugby, denying Fiji possession and pressuring play-maker Waisele Serevi.

In the final New Zealand stamped their return to the top of the sevens world with a 32-20 win over Australia. Austra lia had promised much before the tournament but could not match a New

Zealand side which could hardly do a

thing wrong.

The last time New Zealand won the Hong Kong tourna ment was in 1989. In recent times they struggled to find form in the sevens code, a few weeks prior to Hong Kong they were defeated in the semi-finals of the Fiji sevens in Suva by a Fiji Eastern selec tion side. But the Kiwis certainly found form in Hong Kong and at no time

during the two-day tournament were they put under pressure.

The fifth side from the Pacific, Tonga, ended up in the Plate competition and were defeated 21-12 by a very impressive South Korean side in the Plate semi finals. South Korean went on to win the Plate. Hosts Hong Kong won the Bowl final. So, another sevens season has come and gone and already many are specu lating on the 1995 season. However, given the unpredictability of the sevens game we could be in for a few more surprises next year. □

Not so surprising: Fiji is bundled out of the sevens by New Zealand’s All Blacks in the semi-final