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Singapore Rugby Sevens: New Zealand unbeaten, Samoa defeat Fiji, tough day for Hong Kong
- Fiji lose to Samoa in pool stage, while New Zealanders back up their triumph at last weekend’s Hong Kong Sevens by topping a difficult group
- Fresh from winning the Shield in their home tournament, Hong Kong are placed in the Kiwis’ group along with Australia and South Africa
Samoa produced the stand-out result of the first day of the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens as they beat Fiji in their pool.
They won 28-7 and were joined by New Zealand and Argentina in finishing the group phase with three wins at the National Stadium on Saturday.
A week on from claiming minor silverware in their hometown Sevens, Hong Kong headed to the Lion City knowing a daunting draw awaited them: New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
The Kiwis, who had stormed to a convincing triumph in Hong Kong, were their first opponents in pool A, and lived up to their billing by running out 47-0 winners. Moses Leo and Leroy Carter scored two apiece of their side’s seven tries.
![Vaa Apelu Maliko of Samoa scores a try on day one in Singapore. Photo: AFP](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2023/04/08/8cdf1abc-74fa-4e6c-8cc6-55ceafd12c3c_82230296.jpg)
Hong Kong got two tries on the board in their next outing, through Max Denmark and Liam Herbert, but were still comfortably second-best as South Africa beat them 31-12.
Their final group match was a 48-0 drubbing by Australia, putting them into a ninth-place quarter-final against Japan on Sunday morning.
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