New Zealand and Australia join together in solidarity at the #HK7s, as a mark of respect and rememberance to those who lost their lives in Christchurch, New Zealand
The New Zealand 7s side proved too strong as it defeated Australia 40-19 in its opening pool match of the Hong Kong tournament.
The All Blacks wore their white jersey in honour of the victims of the Christchurch terror attacks and both the teams had a moment silence before the match.
New Zealand and Australia join together in solidarity at the #HK7s, as a mark of respect and rememberance to those who lost their lives in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March. pic.twitter.com/7XoVBBKg9Y
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 5, 2019
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Fiji-born wing Joe Ravouvou scored a double and the rest of the tries were scored by Regan Ware, Sam Dickson, Jona Nareki and Joe Webber.
Australia’s tries were Nick Malouf, Maurice Longbottom and Dylan Pietsch.
NZ player Sam Dickson reflects on the touching tribute between them and the Australians before their game kicks off.
“That game means a lot to us on what happened at Christchurch and that performance we put together for the people back home and coming together with Australia before the game and it was a great start in Hong Kong.”
REACTION ? Christchurch local Sam Dickson reflects on the touching tribute between the #AllBlacks7s and @Aussie7s before kick off #HK7s pic.twitter.com/5ELQsZ0hSm
— All Blacks Sevens (@AllBlacks7s) April 5, 2019
NZ coach Clark Laidlaw says they now shift their focus in their next game against Kenya.
“We were little bit frustrated in the last tournament where we didn’t pick up the win and all the teams come here and reasonably excited and Fiji trying to win the tournament five years in a row and I think we not too far ahead and we got a group that we have.”
??? “Things I never thought I’d see on a Friday afternoon…”. Hilarious commentary as @FFRugby legend @sebchabal performs a classic sevens anthem at the #HK7s pic.twitter.com/njO2rcodWD
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 5, 2019
Meanwhile, in other matches, Samoa beat Scotland 17-7, South Africa defeated Japan 22-7, and England hammered Wales 36-19.
USA thrashed Spain 36-7.
A little bit of history in Hong Kong as @EnglandRugby‘s Dan Norton surpasses Collins Injera to become Hong Kong’s all time sevens series top try scorer #HK7s pic.twitter.com/Mi0nmEFGqS
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 5, 2019
Using high tech player tracking technology.
On Dragons.
Five of them.
Sure. pic.twitter.com/m6Jq5uQu6n
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 5, 2019
Meanwhile, Fiji will now play Australia at 5.13pm tomorrow before taking on New Zealand at 8.55pm.
The cup quarterfinals start at 2.58pm on Sunday, cup semifinal final begins at 7.41pm and the cup final kicks off at 11pm on Sunday.
You can watch the entire tournament live on FBC TV.
| MATCH | TIME | TEAM 1 | SCORE | TEAM 2 | POOL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | 09:42PM | Samoa | 17 - 7 | Scotland | Pool A |
| M2 | 10:06PM | South Africa | 22 - 7 | Japan | Pool A |
| M3 | 10:31PM | England | 29 - 19 | Wales | Pool D |
| M4 | 10:53PM | USA | 36 - 7 | Spain | Pool D |
| M5 | 11:15PM | New Zealand | 40 - 14 | Australia | Pool C |
| M6 | 11:37PM | Fiji | 22 - 5 | Kenya | Pool C |
| M8 | 12:01AM | Argentina | 19 - 14 | Canada | Pool B |
| M8 | 12:26AM | France | 40 - 7 | Portugal | Pool B |
| SAT APR 06, 2019 | |||||
| M9 | 03:16PM | Samoa | 31 - 21 | Japan | Pool A |
| M10 | 03:41PM | South Africa | 26 - 10 | Scotland | Pool A |
| M11 | 04:03PM | England | 54 - 5 | Spain | Pool D |
| M12 | 04:25PM | USA | 19 -21 | Wales | Pool D |
| M13 | 04:51PM | New Zealand | 36 - 0 | Kenya | Pool C |
| M14 | 05:13PM | Fiji | 31 - 12 | Australia | Pool C |
| M15 | 05:35PM | Argentina | 26 - 21 | Portugal | Pool B |
| M16 | 05:59PM | France | 24 - 12 | Canada | Pool B |
| M17 | 07:00PM | Scotland | 19 - 19 | Japan | Pool A |
| M18 | 07:22PM | South Africa | 21 - 7 | Samoa | Pool A |
| M19 | 07:44PM | Wales | 10 - 26 | Spain | Pool D |
| M20 | 08:08PM | USA | 17 - 28 | England | Pool D |
| M21 | 08:33PM | Australia | 28 - 12 | Kenya | Pool C |
| M22 | 08:55PM | Fiji | 24 - 5 | New Zealand | Pool C |
| M23 | 09:17PM | Canada | 19 - 12 | Portugal | Pool B |
| M24 | 09:41PM | France | 26 - 14 | Argentina | Pool B |
| SUN APR 07 | |||||
| M25 | 01:30PM | Scotland | 33 - 14 | Spain | CTQF |
| M26 | 01:52PM | Australia | 26 - 21 | Portugal | CTQF |
| M27 | 02:14PM | Wales | 7 - 38 | Japan | CTQF |
| M28 | 02:36PM | Canada | 0 - 19 | Kenya | CTQF |
| M29 | 02:58PM | South Africa | 12 - 21 | USA | Cup QF1 |
| M30 | 03:20PM | Fiji | 29 - 24 | Argentina | Cup QF2 |
| M31 | 03:42PM | England | 12 - 14 | Samoa | Cup QF3 |
| M32 | 04:07PM | France | 14 - 12 | New Zealand | Cup QF4 |
| M33 | 05:16PM | Spain | 24 - 7 | Portugal | 13th Place SF |
| M34 | 05:43PM | Wales | 29 - 14 | Canada | 13th Place SF |
| M35 | 06:05PM | Scotland | 19 - 17 | Australia | CT SF |
| M36 | 06:30PM | Japan | 21 - 5 | Kenya | CT SF |
| M37 | 06:55PM | South Africa | 17 - 19 | Argentina | 5th Place SF |
| M38 | 07:17PM | England | 10 - 17 | New Zealand | 5th Place SF |
| M39 | 07:41PM | USA | 19 - 28 | Fiji | Cup SF |
| M40 | 08:03PM | Samoa | 12 - 19 | France | Cup SF |
| M41 | 09:00PM | Spain | 19 - 14 | Wales | 13th Place Play-off |
| M42 | 09:30PM | Scotland | 26 - 24 | Japan | CT Final |
| M43 | 10:00PM | Argentina | 21 - 14 | New Zealand | 5th Place Play-off |
| M44 | 10:30PM | USA | 22 - 5 | Samoa | Bronze Final |
| M45 | 11:00PM | Fiji | 21 - 7 | France | Cup Final |
