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Tone Ng Shiu the hero as All Blacks Sevens set up semi-final with Australia

New Zealand (in black) vs Fiji (in white) during the HSBC SVNS Men’s Series at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens 2024 at Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong, China, on 6 April 2024. Photo by Jayne Russell/Clique Visuals

Just like their countrywomen, the New Zealand men’s team are one win away from a place in the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens Cup final but arch-rival Australia stand in their way.

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New Zealand flew through pool play with three wins from as many matches, including a 22-nil demolition of SVNS Series leaders Argentina. It was the best they’ve looked all season.

But as is the nature of the international circuit, there are no easy fixtures. The All Blacks Sevens were matched up against traditional rivals Fiji in a blockbuster quarter-final on Saturday evening.

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Regan Ware scored in the first minute, but tries to Ponepati Loganimasi and Joji Nasova swung the knockout clash in Fiji’s favour. But the All Blacks Sevens were far from finished.

Xavier Tito-Harris stunned the crowd at Hong Kong Stadium with a try in the 12th minute which levelled the score at 12-all. Then, Tone Ng Shiu completed the comeback by scoring the match-winner with only a matter of seconds left to run on the clock.

“Just buzzed out. What was going through my head at the time was just hold onto the ball and don’t fre*king let it go,” Ng Shiu, who still had a smile on his face, told RugbyPass.

“Just happy that we matched the Fijian’s energy – probably did one better to be fair because obviously we won.

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“There’s a massive history and legacy in Hong Kong Sevens,” he added. “Gutted that it’s going to be the last one at this stadium because there’s so many memories.”

While the New Zealanders are looking to qualify for their second Cup final from what would be six events this season, Australia have looked like a much-improved outfit in Hong Kong China.

After failing to qualify for the quarter-finals in Vancouver and then losing in the quarter-finals in Los Angeles, the Aussies have put their shortcomings in North America behind them.

Finn Morton spoke with All Blacks Sevens’ Tone Ng Shiu at Hong Kong Stadium. (Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)
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Australia suffered a heartbreaking defeat to France in the final match on day one but recovered with a strong pool stage win over Canada and a clinical quarter-final victory over South Africa.

“We came back from (North America) and had a meeting around our team and just wanted to figure out what our ‘whys’ were,” Australia’s Maurice Longbottom explained. “Why we play rugby, why we train so hard every day.

“Before every game, we remind ourselves that’s our why, we’re going out here to do that for them and if we go out there and put a performance out like we did then we come back proud.”

With the south stand at the iconic Hong Kong Stadium in full voice on Saturday evening, the Aussies ran out onto the sacred turf with a clear mission in mind.

With former Wallabies captain turned SVNS Series debutant Michael Hooper watching on from the bench, Nathan Lawson ran in for the opener after just two minutes.

The Aussies made some unforced errors which risked swinging the knockout clash in South Africa’s favour, but it was their defensive effort that was especially impressive.

Longbottom crossed for a try in the 10th minute and added a penalty goal a couple of minutes later. With the Aussies ahead by 15 points the result was never really in doubt late in the match.

“It’s massive, it’s the Mecca of sevens,” Longbottom told RugbyPass when asked about the significance of the Hong Kong Sevens.

“We’ve had a solid weekend so far and hopefully we go out and go a few games better tomorrow.”

Ireland will take on France in the other men’s semi-final at 1:40 pm (local time) before New Zealand versus Australia in the following fixture at 2:06 pm.

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H
Hellhound 40 minutes ago
France put World Cup pain behind them with unbeaten run in November

France is starting to look like they are finally over their WC headache, although they were lucky that NZ had a very bad game. The Argies as usual is one game good, the next bad. If they can sort that out and be more consistent, they could become contenders for the WC.


NZ, Argentina (if they are more consistent), and now the Wallabies too is in an upward curve (can they be consistent?), as well as Fiji(as inconsistent as Argentina) looks like possible contenders. The Boks will be as usual a huge threat to defend their title. Things are looking up for the South, so the North should rightfully beware of the Southern Hemisphere threat.


With the French looking dangerous, the English with their close runs (mostly a mindset problem) and the Scottish seems to be the NH main contenders. The Irish is good, but not excellent anymore. They are more overbearing and with their glory days mostly gone with old players hanging on by a thread, by 2027 if they don't start adding in the younger players, they won't make it past yet another WC Quarter final. The problem is that their youngsters, while good is nothing special.


That is just 8 teams without the Irish that can become real WC contenders. Lots of hickups to be sorted still for these teams, excluding the Boks to become a threat. Make no mistake, the top Tier is much closer than people realise and the 2027 WC will be a really great WC, possibly the best contended WC ever.

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