Results from the 2008 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens - Day 2

With few, if any, surprises on the first day (see Results from Day 1 of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and Results from Day 3 of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens) of the Hong Kong Sevens, today should prove more interesting as the teams move closer to the lucrative final day. The biggest and best games today, on paper at least, are Australia v France, Samoa v Canada, Australia v Tonga, Fiji v Wales, South Africa v Argentina and of course the second to last game, Samoa v England. But the Sevens is never normally a completely predictable affair, and teams such as Japan, Korea, and Tunisia can often pull some magic out of the hat, and create an upset or two.

The results on this page were updated live as they happened throughout the day, direct from the stadium.

- live text coverage - Well, the weather has turned for the better. The sun is out, it's hot, the crowds singing, drinking and having an overall good time. The costumes in the South Stand are as wild and imaginative as ever, and the playing conditions are ideal. The first game finished with a 56 - 5 Tonga win against Hong Kong. The second game however, gave us the surprise and quality of rugby we had all been waiting for, with China beating Scotland 12 - 19. What a result, and what a game. Wales continued their excellent form, convincingly beating Korea 34 - 5. It will be interesting to see just how far Wales can go as they are one of the top performers so far in this exciting tournament.

Argentina v Japan was always likely to be a tight affair, and it took until late in the 6th minute for Japan to score the first points of the game with a well worked try. Extreme speed is Japan's primary weapon of choice and they use it well. Japan lead by 5 points at the half time mark.  Argentina came back in the second half, and the fluidity of the game was ruined through the ref stopping the game too much. The final score flatters Argentina, 19 - 5.

Who would ever guess Hong Kong is an ex British colony?! The crowd erupts as England takes to the field to play Sri Lanka. The team do not disappoint the fans, with England's captain Ben Gollings running over half the pitch to score a converted try to take first points. A second converted try comes in the third minute, then a third, and Sri Lanka are struggling to even keep the ball at the moment. England look much improved over yesterday's game against Canada. A silly penalty given away by England in front of their posts, almost gave Sri Lanka a peak at some points, but the English defense stood strong, and Ben Gollings took the ball for another 90 metres run, chased all the way, to score another great try. Half time score 28 - 0. England are playing very well, as Noah Cato blazes past the Sri Lankan defense to make it 33 - 0. Sri Lanka score a converted try in their only real attack of the game, but England instantly hit back with a couple more tries of their own. Final score 47 - 7.

USA v Chinese Taipei up next, with the latter being a crowd favourite for numerous obvious reasons. The crowd favourites in this game were first to score, but the USA was swift to reply taking a 7 - 5 lead. Chinese Taipei cannot convert a second but the USA do not have the same problem taking the score to 14 - 10. A stronger performance in the second half by the USA led the team to a 38 - 17 victory.

Australia v France was a tight affair, but Australia managed to squeeze a 17 - 12 victory. Up next Kenya v Portugal, which is a very important game, especially after China beat Scotland in an earlier game today. If Portugal were to win this game, the group would be wide open. Kenya, however, had other ideas, winning 19 - 7. Fiji never looked like they would be troubled by Zimbabwe, and finished the first half with a comfortable 28 - 0 lead. Despite Zimbabwe managing to score two tries, Fiji remained dominant and closed the game at 42 - 14. South Africa played well against Russia, and start the second half by scoring another converted try taking their score to 31 - 0 and closing the game in dominant fashion with 48 points to nil. 

The first big game of the afternoon, Samoa v Canada proved to be a very close affair with both teams on 12 points at half time. Experience and overall quality finally won Samoa the game 36 - 12. New Zealand were leading Tunisia 12 - 0 at the half time break, and managed to build on that lead to a comfortable 38 - 0 win.

Hong Kong have started extremely well against France, taking the lead to 0 - 7 with a converted try. The crowd are going wild with the belief that maybe, just maybe, this could be the second major upset of the Sevens. Did I say gone wild? Forget that, they have gone crazy! Hong Kong has just scored and converted their second try with no reply as yet from France. 0 - 12 with only two minutes to go to half time. France have hardly left their own half, with Hong Kong tackling as if their lives depended on it. On almost the stroke of half time, and despite some courageous tackling, France pulled one back to bring the score to 7 - 14. What a response! 33 seconds into the second half and Hong Kong score and convert their 3rd try of the game. The roof is coming off the stadium!!! The score France 7 - 21 Hong Kong. The home team gave away a penalty on the half way line and France almost slid to a try, literally. The try attempt was ruled out by the referee after verification with the linesman. 4 minutes to go and it is getting tense!! France are pushing harder now and are rewarded with a converted try - 14 - 21. 2 minutes to go. Hong Kong are playing extremely well and fight for everything, but France break through for a try on the sixth minute, scoring the conversion despite the boos from the crowd! 21 - 21. Well played Hong Kong. Final score 21 - 21. One of the best games so far.

Despite playing well, China were unable to duplicate the winning form they had shown previously in the day against Scotland. Portugal eventually won comfortably 40 - 10.  Zimbabwe are playing well against a tired-looking Korea. The half time score was Zimbabwe 12 - 5 Korea, finishing  21 - 5. The Russia v Japan matched finished the first half at 12 - 5 and ended 24 -12. Sri Lanka had no reply to Canada's strength, the island nation losing their third consecutive match 53 - 0. Tunisia have played well this tournament, and despite being against some very strong opposition have shown a lot of promise. That quality proved too strong for Chinese Taipei and at half time the score was 35-5. Tunisia managed to boost this impressive score to the highest score of the whole tournament so far, 66 - 5.

In the crunch match between Australia and Tonga, Australia opened the scoring with a converted try, with Tonga's reply coming in the 4th minute. A missed conversion by Tonga and the score was as close as the play on the pitch - 7 - 5. In the sixth minute, Tonga took the lead with a well worked try but again failed to the make the conversion. Half time score 7 - 10. The Pacific islanders started the second half positively scoring a third try in the second minute but again throwing points away by missing the conversion. At 7 - 15 will Australia make Tonga pay for those missed chances? To reply to that question Australia scores a try to make the score 12 - 15, but they too miss the conversion. Australia pile on the pressure and run half the pitch to earn a penalty with Ualosi Kailea of Tonga sent off for two minutes for a high tackle. Australia capitalise on the error and score! Final score despite missing the resulting kick, final score 17 - 15.

Kenya v Scotland up next and a game Scotland needs to win after losing to China earlier in the day. Kenya, have been playing well and won their two previous games in the tournament. It took Kenya 5 1/2 minutes to break the deadlock with a well worked converted try that started deep inside their own half. Half time score Kenya 7 - 0 Scotland. Kenya come out and score a second try, effectively destroying Scotland's chances of getting the required 59 points margin to stay in the Cup. Despite a brief comeback by Scotland Kenya continue their dominance of the game by winning 19.

side story - Despite organisers constantly repeating that the South Stand is full it looks strangely quiet, with far more empty seats and space than normally seen in past years. The South Stand is usually a sea of writhing bodies, dancing, drinking and creating chaos. The test will be when England play at 18:34 perhaps the missing bodies will appear from somewhere to watch that game! Although there is very heavy security we've had three streakers this afternoon! all male unfortunately!  - side story

Fiji, one of the tournament favourites, against a Welsh side that has been playing very impressively, and it is the Fiji that flex their muscles first scoring a try in the second  minute to take the lead 5 - 0. Wales are on the defensive while Fiji constantly threaten to extend their lead. Wales have worked hard but are lucky to be only 5 points down at half time. Wales continue to live dangerously in the second half with some of the play behind the Welsh goal line, everything so far is Fiji, and Wales seem to be hoping on a quick break. It was surely only a matter of time, Fiji score on the 3rd minute to extend their lead to 10 - 0. In the last minute Fiji break from some Welsh pressure, and score an excellent individual try by William Ryder to finish the game 15 - 0.

South Africa have looked so strong this tournament but their next game against Argentina, who have also looked very confident, is definitely their biggest test so far. And what a test it is going to be, with the Argentineans opening the scoring in the first minute with a converted try. 0 - 7. South Africa score seconds after Argentina have Frederico Amelong sent off for 2 minutes for a foul. Half time score South Africa 5 - Argentina 7. Positive start to the second half with a converted try for South Africa in the first minute 12 - 7. But the game is far from over, with Argentina scoring a magical converted try that started deep in their own half. South Africa were a little fortunate at the end and managed to score a converted try deep in stoppage time after Argentina had another player sin binned. Both of these teams are extremely strong and the full time score of 19 - 14 reflects this. It could easily have gone either way.

England are in the house, and they play Samoa! The biggest test so far for both teams. There is no guessing who the crowd are cheering for, but it is end to end, with both teams now having had good chances. Samoa break the deadlock by making most of some empty space behind the England defense, Samoa 5 - 0 England. Which is the way it remains at half time. England started the second half with a glorious chance to score only for the ball to be scooped from Elliotts hands a yard from the line. Then in the 4th minute after sustained pressure England breakthrough for a converted try. England lead. Samoa 5 - England 7. Very good few minutes from England. England thought they had won and kicked to touch after the blower only for the referee to pull back for a Samoan penalty. It looked like Samoa had scored but after some tense moments it was ruled out and England win. Samoa 5 - England 7.

No surprises in the last game as New Zealand showed there class against the USA winning 47 - 7, to complete an amazing day of rugby along with some outstanding weather. - end live text coverage -

In our 2008 Hong Kong Coverage Sevens we offer Pictures from the Sevens, featuring all the fun and even a few of the rugby, 2008 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens Fixtures, Results from the First Day of the 2008 Hong Kong Sevens, Results from the Second Day of the 2008 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Results from Day Three of the 2008 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and even some live text coverage of the more popular games.

You may be also be interested to check out the Pictures from Past Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, and see the results etc from the 2007 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, plus there are many more useful tips about Hong Kong in the links below.

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