Holders Australia down Japan in Hong Kong Sevens opener

HONG KONG, AFP: A convincing win over Japan got reigning Hong Kong Rugby Sevens men’s champions Australia off to a winning start on Friday, with star man Dietrich Roache toasting a return to the site of the side’s last triumph.

Australia have not made a final since November’s gold medal in the first of two Hong Kong stops in this year’s World Rugby Sevens Series.

This year’s tour also serves as Olympic qualifiers, with the top four teams automatically heading to Paris 2024.

With three more stops to go, the Aussies are currently ranked fifth.

Roache, who scored one of his side’s four tries in a 26-5 win over Japan, was happy to be back.

“It feels amazing,” the 21-year-old said. “The vibes here are good, obviously we have good memories here, as soon as we got to the stadium we knew we were ready to go.” He added that the side was confident of winning the tournament again, urging his teammates to “remember the hard work it took to get to that final and remember how hard it was to get there – and we’ve got to put ourselves in that position again”.

Australia raced into a 26-0 half-time lead, before letting Japan back into the game a little in the second.

“First half was good, really clinical. In the conditions I thought we played reasonably well,” said Coach John Manenti.

“Second half, we defended well until that last point – probably tried to force it a little bit; got a bit excited with the scoreboard.” He said that on Saturday they face “a hell of a game” against Spain, who earlier sprung a Pool C shock against the USA, winning 7-0.

In the game of the day, Fiji beat fellow Pacific islanders Samoa 12-7 to lay down a marker in Pool A, while series leaders New Zealand notched a 29-5 win over Kenya in Pool D.

The tournament continues on Saturday and Sunday.