Sean McMahon in action against Samoa during Day One of the Gold Coast Sevens
Photo: IRB/Martin Seras Lima

by Brendan Bradford on the Gold Coast –

Australia topped the ‘Group of Death’ at the Gold Coast Sevens yesterday, but it wasn’t without a minor hiccup along the way. Leading Scotland 21-0 after halftime in their first match of the day, the home side conceded three tries in hot and humid conditions – the last one after the full time siren – to record a draw.

“Really disappointing, we just fell asleep in the second half and you can’t do that in Sevens,” said Australian captain Ed Jenkins after the game.

“I am gutted, two games to put it right. But Argentina and Samoa, doesn’t get any easier from here.” 

A Nick Malouf double secured a 22-7 win over Argentina before local boy Shannon Walker scored a second-half five pointer against Samoa for a hard fought 12-0 win in the Pool decider. The Samoa victory was revenge of sorts for a defeat at the Oceania Championships in Fiji a week before and served as a much needed confidence boost after the earlier slip-up against Scotland.

“We knew there was a physical battle with Samoa and I think we out-muscled them and we showed a lot of courage. There were a few good try savers to not let them go across the line and I think we showed a lot of ticker,” said Australian playmaker James Stannard.

“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” says veteran James Stannard

“We let a good lead slide in that first game and drew which upset us a bit. Tell you the truth I think we had the wind knocked out of us, it was a really hot day and a few substitutions were called for but at the end of the day we just can’t let a lead like that slide.

“It’s something that happens once and you just don’t let it happen again, it’s a good wake up call.”

Facing crowd favourites Kenya in the Cup quarter-final, Stannard says Australia is once again out for revenge.

“Last year we were in a similar situation, we won every game then came out and got done by them, so we owe ‘em one and we’ll be all guns blazing.

“Hopefully they’ll pull up a bit sore (after a 31-0 loss to New Zealand), but that won’t deter us from our game plan and we showed if we stick to it, we can put some pretty good sides away.”

A physically impressive side with a skill-set and playing style that belies their ‘minnows’ status, Kenya were entertaining in their two wins on day one – a 38-0 rout of Tonga and a 31-5 dispatching of the USA – before New Zealand brought them back to earth. Nevertheless, Kiwi captain DJ Forbes described them as “awesome” while Kenyan veteran Collins Injera was adamant the side could go all the way.

“It’s a tricky pool, but I’m glad the boys have pulled it off so far,” Injera said after beating the USA.

“I think you can see that our systems are working well and I think we shared the workload around our teammates and it went well for us.”

Like Injera, Stannard is a veteran of the game and although the 30-year old has received only limited game time so far, his experience will be vital in the latter stages of day two.

“I’m going alright,” he enthused.

“I cook out pretty fast now, but I’m good and fresh. The game’s a lot faster now and you’ve gotta be super fit and fast to play it.

“There’s some good athletes, but I’m not going too badly. I’m losing a bit of speed with my old age, but I’m holding my own with ball playing and I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

Australia play Kenya in the Cup quarter-final at 12:42pm.