The Australian Men’s Sevens side has finished the Wellington Sevens tournament in Fifth Place after defeating Argentina in the Plate Final, 21-5.
The young Australian side improved throughout the Wellington tournament, dropping just the one match to eventual finalists South Africa in the Cup Quarter Finals.
Hosts New Zealand sent Westpac Stadium into raptures with an exciting come-from-behind victory against rivals South Africa to win the Cup Final after time had expired, setting up an exciting opportunity for a rematch at the inaugural HSBC Sydney 7s next weekend.
For Australian Sevens veteran, James Stannard, the Wellington Sevens saw him etch his name into Australian Rugby history by becoming the top points scorer for the Aussie Sevens side, scoring his 632nd point for his country.
Qantas Australian Men’s Head Coach Scott Bowen said: “Overall we came to Wellington with a reasonably inexperienced team with five guys who had played less than five tournaments. So for us we certainly have developed the depth of our squad.
“To go through the weekend and to only have one loss against South Africa is a credit to them. I was really impressed with the character of these guys and how they worked for each other to get the job done.
“We had a really good win against USA and Argentina but in that Quarter Final we had our moments and opportunities but just weren’t able to capitalise on them."
On his young charges Bowen added: “This side will continue to develop particularly with a new Head Coach (Andy Friend) and we need to put ourselves in a position where we can regularly beat the top four.
“The performances of some players has meant they have put their hands up for selection next week at the HSBC Sydney 7s. Andy has been here observing how the players responded to certain situations.
“You want players putting their hands and putting pressure on you to pick them, it creates a positive playing atmosphere. We have some experienced players coming in next weekend who will hold us into good stead.
"The HSBC Sydney 7s is going to be an amazing event with a sell-out crowd on both days. It’s Sevens Rugby at its best and it is extremely exciting.”
To start day two of the tournament South Africa showed their experience early on in the Cup Quarter Final clash rushing up on the Australian attackers to cause a turnover in Australia’s half. The resulting territory allowed South Africa to score the opening try.
A patient Australian side used physicality to confront the South Africans as Allan Fa’alava’au finished off a great passage of play to cross the line and momentarily hand the men in gold the lead.
A crucial penalty on the next passage allowed the Blitzboks to score a late try to take the score to 7-12 at half time.
South Africa continued to show their class against a young Australian outfit in the second half laying on three quick-fire tries to seal the deal. A late try to Sam Myers provided some respectability on the scoreboard in a 14-26 defeat.
With their Cup aspirations gone, the Australians focused their efforts on finishing the tournament in fifth beginning with the Plate Semi Final clash against the USA. Fa’alava’au scored his third try of the weekend as he put Australia on the scoreboard after some patient play, marching up field and through the American defence. USA countered quickly and went coast-to-coast as Madison Hughes leveled the scores with a five-pointer of his own.
With seconds remaining in the first half Australia scored in the corner through Sam Myers to take the score to 10-5. A successful conversion by James Stannard pushed the interim Australian Captain past Peter Miller as the highest points scorer for the Aussie7s team - registering his 632nd point in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
A see-sawing defensive effort by both sides prevented the scoreboard from ticking over for most of the second half. It took a brilliant individual effort from young winger Henry Hutchison to break the deadlock, as he powered his way through two American defenders to take the final score to 17-5.
The Plate Final started poorly for Australia with a turnover gifting Argentina possession well within the Australian half gifting the South Americans the first try of the match. Australia countered with Boyd Killingworth bouncing through some Argentinian tackles and setting up Greg Jeloudev to score underneath the posts to take the score to 7-5.
Boyd Killingworth was rewarded for his earlier break with a try of his own just before half time taking the score to 14-5 in favour of the Australians.
A final try to Tom Lucas ensured the Australian victory and a confidence-boosting fifth-place finish ahead of their home tournament in Sydney next weekend.
Australian Men’s results in Wellington, New Zealand:
Australia 19-12 Portugal, Pool D
Australia 26-22 Canada, Pool D
Australia 17-12 Kenya, Pool D
Australia 14-26 South Africa, Cup Quarter Final
Australia 17-5 USA, Plate Semi-Final
Australia 21-5 Argentina, Plate Final
Final Placings for the Wellington Sevens (Top 7):
1.New Zealand (22 points), 2.South Africa (19 points), 3.Fiji (17 points), 4.England (15 points), 5. Australia (13 points), 6.Argentina (12 points), 7.United States of America (10 points).
Current 2015-16 HSBC World Series standings (Top 8 - after three rounds): 1.South Africa (54 points), 2.Fiji (52 points), 3.New Zealand (47 points), 4.England (41 points), 5.Argentina (41 points), 6. United States of America (39 points), 7.Australia (35 points), 8. Kenya (30 points)