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Nathan Hirayama is now Canada’s all-time leading scorer on the HSBC Sevens Series. The 29-year-old playmaker stepped past former teammate Phil Mack with his conversion of Luke McCloskey’s try against Kenya in Canada’s first match of the day. One more conversion and match-winning drop goal saw Hirayama finish with seven points in the game and 980 in his career, just seven points shy of Fijian stepper William Ryder for 18th on the all-world list.
Hong Kong also provided another milestone for Hirayama as he takes part in his 50th tournament on the HSBC circuit. In doing so he becomes the third Canadian to achieve the mark, following Mack and current teammate and record holder John Moonlight, now his in 55th tournament. Australia’s Ed Jenkins and South African star Cecil Afrika joined also reached their 50th HSBC tournaments in Hong Kong.
Other notable achievements on Day One include England flyer Dan Norton’s 245th career try, putting one foot past Kenya’s Collins Injera, who was held scoreless by Canada. Norton’s teammate and captain Tom Mitchell notched his 100th career try in the same match, and Tim Mikkelson touched down for the 190th time for New Zealand, moving one try past South Africa’s Seabelo Senatla into 5th on the all-time list.
