Day One: HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens 2018

After an incredible first day of scintillating action at the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Singapore, there are still four unbeaten sides that are left in the tournament. These are Australia, South Africa, England and Fiji, all of whom won their three pool matches.

Click here to view the HSBC Singapore Rugby 7s 2018 Day 1 photos.

Click here to view the HSBC Singapore Rugby 7s 2018 Day 2 photos.

The Australians had beaten Scotland 24-20 in the first match of the day. This was followed by a 19-12 win against Tasman rivals New Zealand and then a 38-0 walloping of Wales.

Said Tim Walsh, head coach of the Australian rugby sevens side, “It was not a bad day. That last game was probably the best one, keeping them to nil. We had the intent and the character to really finish strong. I am really happy with the defence there.”

He added, “Pressure is what you make of it. The boys have been well prepared and worked hard all season so there is not a lot that I can do in a couple of training sessions. So it’s good to get ourselves off to a good start.”

South Africa won their first game 26-5 against Samoa, and followed this up with 26-12 wins against both Canada and Argentina.

England were victorious 28-19 against the inaugural Singapore champions Kenya, won 19-14 against the United States and then they whipped France 39-0.

Fiji won by a massive 45-12 scoreline against Japan. They then beat Russia 29-7 followed by a whipping of Spain with a score of 33-5 in their final match.

Said coach Gareth Baber, “We were a bit scrappy on times, and not accurate in a couple of areas of the game that we know you have to be to win tournaments like this, but we have been in the past, so there is nothing to panic about. We just lost a bit of focus and concentration at times.”

He continued, “We’ve come through and scored points well and haven’t conceded a huge amount, and I thought we showed some good character, especially in that last game over Spain. Spain are a good side. They came out against us in the last two or three minutes but we kept them out and scored the other side, so I need to see more of that tomorrow.”

Also joining them in the quarter finals are New Zealand, Samoa, Kenya and Spain, all of whom finished second in their groups with two wins each.

Last year’s HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens winners and the current defending champions Canada, however had failed to reach the Cup quarter finals this time around. They had beaten the United States in the final at the 2017 event.

Said a very frustrated Canada coach Damian McGrath, “Sometimes teams are too good for you, and you’ve got to hold your hands up. But we lost twice to teams where we had opened the door and let them through. So it’s our own fault. To hand over your title, you want to do it the right way. But we gave it away.”

Now after the first day of action, the quarter finals will pit Fiji against New Zealand in a mouth watering rematch of the recent Commonwealth Games 2018 Rugby Sevens final – in which the All Blacks Sevens had emerged triumphant.

Said Clark Laidlaw, coach of New Zealand, “The draw is what it is. You have seen some really tight pools today, and you have got to beat everybody. So we’ll take it on the chin and get ready for Fiji.”

In the other quarter final matches, South Africa will also be up against Kenya and Australia will be taking on Spain.

Said Neil Powell, the coach of South Africa, “I’m happy with our performance, especially with how the guys held up in our defensive system. We can definitely make a step up a bit more in attack as I felt that once or twice we had a few unforced errors that lost us ball possession.”