Chile on track after Hong Kong Day One

Chile emerged unbeaten on Day One of the HBSC Sevens Series qualifiers in Hong Kong on Friday. The Sudamérica representatives are the best hope from the Americas to achieve core status for the 2017-18 HSBC circuit, but their path is far from certain.

A dominant win over Sri Lanka saw Lucas Westcott score a hat-trick with singles from Julio Blanc, Marcelo Torrealba, and captain Felipe Brangier. Torrealba added four conversions. Their second match did not go as smoothly as Namibia scored two tries to leave the scores level at the break. The entrance of Anton Petrowitsch in the second half provided much-needed energy, with the leggy forward controlling the restarts and scoring the final try to settle nerves. Blanc added a double with Francisco Urroz adding an impressive solo effort to start the game.

Their final pool game will take place early on Day Two, with home favorites Hong Kong next up in the most anticipated match of the pool stages. Hong Kong came through their opening matches in fine form with comfortable wins over Namibia and Sri Lanka.

Jamaica put in a credible effort against powerhouse Germany, scoring two tries through Omar Dixon and Josh Jacas. They also gave problems to an underwhelming Tongan side though ultimately losing by two tries to one. Gareth Stoppani scored the lone try for the Crocs.

Two Americas countries were drawn in Pool G. Uruguay came up just short to Papua New Guinea, losing four tries to three. Scores came from Guillermo Lijtenstein, Gastón Mieres, and Ignacio García, with captain Lijtenstein converting all three. Their second match was forgettable, slumping to a 36-0 defeat to Olympic participants Spain.

Guyana suffered similar fates, losing heavily to both Spain and Papua New Guinea, but managed to score one try in each fixture. Avery Corbin touched down against Spain and Patrick King against Papua New Guinea. Guyana will face off against Uruguay in the final pool match on Day Two.

All matches are streamed live by World Rugby.

 

DAY ONE RESULTS

POOL E
Tonga 0 – 29 Uganda
Germany 31 – 12 Jamaica
Tonga 14 – 5 Jamaica
Germany 24 – 0 Uganda

POOL F
Chile 38 – 0 Sri Lanka
Hong Kong 22 – 7 Namibia
Chile 26 – 14 Namibia
Hong Kong 31 – 5 Sri Lanka

POOL G
Papua New Guinea 26 – 21 Uruguay
Spain 47 – 5 Guyana
Papua New Guinea 31 – 5 Guyana
Spain 36 – 0 Uruguay

 

DAY TWO FIXTURES

Apr 7 – 21:00 ET – POOL G – Uruguay vs Guyana
Apr 7 – 21:22 ET – POOL G – Spain vs Papua New Guinea
Apr 7 – 21:44 ET – POOL E – Uganda vs Jamaica
Apr 7 – 22:06 ET – POOL E – Germany vs Tonga
Apr 7 – 22:28 ET – POOL F – Sri Lanka vs Namibia
Apr 7 – 22:50 ET – POOL F – Hong Kong vs Chile

 

TEAMS

POOL E

GERMANY
Anjo Buckmann, Tim Biniak, Oskar Calitz, Sebastian Fromm, Fabian Heimpel, Bastian Himmer, Tim Lichtenberg, Steffen Liebig, Pierre Mathurin (capt.), Raynor Parkinson, Carlos Soteras-Merz, Phil Szczesny, Clement von Grumbkow

JAMAICA
Rhodri Adamson, Anthony Bingham, Josh Christie, Omar Dixon, Oshane Eddie, Josh Jacas, Conan Osbourne (capt.), Tyrone Rowe, Ashley Smith, Lucas Smith, Gareth Stoppani, Fabion Turner, Marcus Webber

TONGA
Anthony Amato, Samisoni Asi, Tevita Ekuasi, Unaloto Kaloni, Sunia Latu, Samisoni Ma’ake, Siaosi Manufekai, Fautasi Ma’u (capt.), Taniela Samita, Tevita Tai, Ofa Teisina, Sosaia Tokai

UGANDA
Eric Kasiita (capt.), Adrian Kasito, Timothy Kisiga, Martin Odongo, Fred Odur, Pius Ogena, Byron Oketayot, Solomon Okia, Michael Okorach, Govle Ramathan, Lawrence Sebuliba, Philip Wokorach

 

POOL F

CHILE
Julio Blanc, Felipe Brangier (capt.), Rodrigo Fernández, Francisco Metuaze, Francisco Neira, Anton Petrowitsch, Martín Raddatz, Ignacio Silva, Marcelo Torrealba, Francisco Urroz, Martín Verschae, Lucas Westcott

HONG KONG
Michael Coverdale, Toby Fenn, Jamie Hood, Jason Jeyam, Lee Jones, Ka-To Lee, Chris Maize, Ryan Meacham, Ben Rimene, Yiu-Kam Shing, Rowan Varty, Max Woodward (capt.), Mark Wright

NAMIBIA
Handrè Bezuidenhout, Martin Cronjè, Janry Du Toit, Jean Jacobs, Lloyd Jacobs, Nandivatu Karuuombe (capt.), Helarius Kisting, Clive Loubser, George Niehaus, Lèan Stoop, Ricardo Swartz, Shareave Titus

SRI LANKA
Suhiru Anthony, Chanaka Chandimal, Dansha Dayan, Richard Dharmapala, Jesan Dissanayaka, Kavin Dixon, Danushka Hadapangodage, Anuradha Herath, Fazil Marija, Sudarshana Muthuthanthri, Dhanushka Ranjan (capt.), Srinath Sooriyabandara, Anuruddha Wilwara

 

POOL G

GUYANA
Vallon Adams, Blaise Bayley, Claudius Butts, Avery Corbin, Rickford Cummings, Rupert Giles, Ryan Gonsalves (capt.), Peabo Hamilton, Patrick King, Ronald Mayers, Rondall McAurtur, Richard Staglon

PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Nathan Baramun, Arthur Clement, Emmanuel Guise, Henry Kalua (capt.), Gairo Kapana, Dean Manale, Hensley Peter, Freddy Rova, Patrick Tatut, William Tirang, Eugene Tokavai, Wesley Vali

SPAIN
Javier Carrión, Jaike Carter, Pablo Fontes, Igor Genua, Francisco Hernández, Lucas Levy, Joan Losada, Angel López (capt.), Ignacio Martín, Pedro Martín, Pol Plá, Iñaki Villanueva

URUGUAY
Francisco Berchesi, Santiago Civetta, Federico Favaro, Ignacio García, Gastón Gibernau, Santiago Hernández, Sebastián Janssen, Juan Larrosa, Guillermo Lijtenstein (capt.), Gastón Mieres, Eugenio Plottier, Mateo Tortorella