Hong Kong Sevens: Great Britain’s men and women struggle on opening day, face world series relegation battle
- Men lose to defending champions New Zealand and USA, who sit just a point above them in standings
- GB women are just ahead of Brazil in the standings, and play their South American rivals on Saturday
Great Britain’s chances of avoiding a relegation play-off in both the men’s and women’s HSBC SVNS Series took a serious blow on the opening day of the Hong Kong Sevens.
The teams lost all their games at Hong Kong Stadium on Friday, making the second round of group matches on Saturday vital.
Hong Kong is the sixth of eight stops this season in a series that features 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams. Those that finish in the bottom four will go into a play-off with the top four from the lower-tier Sevens Challenger Series.
Whoever finishes in the top half of that play-off will qualify for the series next year.
Heading into Hong Kong the men were ninth in the standings 35 points, just one behind the USA, who got their day off to a fast start with a surprise 14-10 win over Argentina.
Coming into the week after a second-placed finish in Las Vegas, Great Britain’s men were quick off the mark too against New Zealand, with Ross McCann crossing the line in the second minute, and Tom Emery adding the extras.
