O'CONNOR'S MEN IN SPIRITED FINISH TO DAY ONE AT GOLD COAST 7'S

November 7: Michael O'Connor's Aussie Spirit survived a round three scare to qualify for tomorrow's Cup quarter finals after day one of the Hyperion Gold Coast International 7's at Albert Park, Surfers Paradise.

The Spirit came from 12-0 behind to defeat Brisbane-based club side Sunnybank 19-12 before maintaining their unbeaten day with a 35-21 win over a Country King Browns - a team that included former Wallaby and Eastern Suburbs Rooster Andrew Walker.

Earlier the Queensland Barbarians maintained their unbeaten passage with a hard fought 24-10 win over the Aussie Legends to top Pool D and book their place in the Cup quarter-finals.

The Fijian-based South Sea Drifters raced away to 24-7 lead in the second-half of their third round match against the Waisale Serevi-inspired MRDC Menjals who came back to score two late tries.

The Drifters hung on to win 24-21 to also join the Barbarians and the Spirit in the Cup quarter-finals.

In another tight third round fixture, the Fijian-based Uprising Beach Resort, hung on to stop the fast-finishing Samoan Virgin Blue Islanders 24-21 to also maintain their unbeaten run into the money rounds.

The top eight qualifiers into the Cup quarter-finals are: Aussie Spirit, Aussie Legends, Queensland Barbarians, Sunnybank, Samoan Virgin Blue Islanders, South Sea Drifters, MRDC Menjals, PNG and the Uprising Beach Resort.

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In the women Eastsyde Brisbane maintained their unbeaten day to top the women's pool when they beat Sydney Womens 29-12 in the final round.

But the man on everyone's lips on day one was Fijian legend Waisale Serevi who provided fans with a rare treat when he pulled on the boots to play for the Papua New Guinean MRDC Menjals in the opening games of the 16-team tournament.

Regarded as the undisputed king of Rugby 7's, he didn't disappoint, guiding his PNG boys to wins in the opening two rounds against the Gold Coast Breakers and Country King Browns.

PNG defeated the Breakers 36-19 with Albert Levi Jnr crossing for three of PNG's six tries before they accounted for Brisbane Nadi 26-15.

(Levi finished the day as the equal leading try scorer with five and the leading pointscorer with 31 points, adding three goals).

"Serevi may not be as fast as he once was but he is still the general out there," said English 7's star Ben Gollings, who took over from Serevi as the IRB's highest pointscorer.

"But to see the great man directing traffic out in the middle of the park again is a great sight and an inspiration to the PNG boys."

Serevi is the Coaching Director for PNG and has already made a huge impression on PNG 7's program.

Meanwhile, the star-studded Samoan Virgin Blue Islanders opened their account with a comfortable 26-7 win over Brisbane Souths.

The Islanders lost five-time World Cup legend Brian Lima with a hamstring strain, suffered in training yesterday but still looked comfortable in their opening encounter.

Fijian fullback Dan Rawaqa (who also finished with five tries for the day) scored three second-half tries, one a 90m effort which saw him step and weave his way through the entire Souths team.

Samoan National 7s team three-quarter Morgan Salesa dominated for the Samoans in the first half and was prominent in guiding the team to its runaway tries in the second half.

The Aussie Spirit looked just as impressive in their opening match, running in eight tries in their 50-5 win over Island Breeze, with Clinton Sills and Brackin Karauria-Henry both crossing for two tries respectively.

In the women's competition the all-star Sydney Women's team ran in nine tries in their 63-0 win over UQ Brothers, with Cobie-Jane Morgan crossing three times and IRB Player of the Year Debby Hodgkinson and Kristy Giteau score two tries each.

Hyperion Gold Coast International 7's, Albert Park, Surfers Paradise,

RESULTS AFTER DAY ONE

ROUND ONE:

POOL A:

MRDC Menjals (PNG) 36 (Levi Jnr 4, Diave, Kuana tries; Levi Jnr 2 con) d Gold Coast Breakers 19 (Fuimano, Buatava, Crook tries; Buatava 2 con; South Sea Drifters 19 (Tiko 2, Tabuakuru tries; Noilea 2 con) d Brisbane Nadi 7 ( Roberston tries; Tuqiri con)

POOL B:

Uprising Beach Resort 26 (Solomone, Toroca, Dalituicama, Bruce tries; Solomone, Bruce, Vuidravuwalu con) try, con, A. Toroca try, P. Dalituicama try, D. Bruce 1 try, 1 con, W. Vuidravuwalu) d Norths 7 (Faumuina tries; Samoa con); Samoan Virgin Blue Islanders 31 (Rawaqa 3, Tabu 1, Nawaqa tries; Morgan 3 con) d Souths 7 (O'Connor try, Field con)

 POOL C:

Sunnybank 31 (Swann, Adams, Routledge, Teti, Moses tries; Semiti 2, Routledge con) d Country King Browns 7 (Cochrane try; Cochrane con); Aussie Spirit 50 (Sills 2, Karauria-Henry 2, Sefanaia, Foley, Bishop, Gray tries; Stannard 3, McCutheon, Bishop con) d Island Breeze 5 (Tamanisau try).

POOL D:

Aussie Legends 36 ( Mogg 2, Cross, Donnelly, White tries; Mogg 1, White 1, Power 1 conversions) d Eagles 0;  QLD Barbarians 31 (Davies 2, Price, Lucas, Murphy tries; Lucas 2, Murphy conversions) d Warblers 5 (Martinga try).

ROUND 2:

POOL A:

MRDC Menjals (PNG) 26 (Haija, Diave, Kuso, Bev tries; Serevi 2, Buckley con) Brisbane Nadi 15 (Rasolea, Savou, Driu tries) South Sea Drifters 24 (Rauwa, Danasafa, Noilea, Naivukedrau tries; Noilea, Vecenayawa con) d Gold Coast Breakers 14 (Francis, Sykes tries; Buatava 2 con)

POOL B:

Uprising Beach Resort (Solomone Joti, Mailase Mareau, Vasuinubu, Vuidravuwalu, Tuitavua tries; Solomone Jote 3 con) 31 d Souths 15 (Torican, Field, O'Connor tries) Samoa Virgin Blue Islanders 28 (Satala 2, Roqica, Sovua tries; Satala 4 con) d Norths 10 (Samoa 2 tries)

POOL C:

Country King Browns 28 (Cochrane, Simes, Walker, Hanna tries; Walker 3 con) Island Breeze 21 (Ghabiliha, Bates, Roqica tries; Gabey 2, Ghabiliha con; Aussie Spirit 19 (McCutcheon, Karauria-Henry, Foley tries; Foley, Stannard con) d Sunnybank 12 (Swann, Semiti tries; Semiti con). 

POOL D:

Aussie Legends 48 (Power 3, Donnelly 3, Shultz 2 tries: Power 2, Donnelly, Power con) d Warblers 10 (Rabone, Monu tries; Queensland Barbarians 34 (Simmons 2, Faingaa, Lance, Murphy, Price tries; Lance, Murphy con) d Eagles 7 (Rankin try, con)

ROUND 3

POOL A: Gold Coast Breakers 22 (Sykes 4 tries; Buatava 1 con) d Brisbane Nadi 22 (Nadolo 2, Tavaga, Tuqiri tries; Tuqiri con)South Sea Drifters 24 (Tabuakuru 3, Volavola tries; Noilea 2 con) d MRDC Menjals (PNG) 21 (Ware, Levi Jnr, Tikot Jnr tries; Levi Jnr, Tikot Jnr, Wausete con)

POOL B: Souths 38 (Turner 2, Tofilan, Huthcinson, O'Connor, Hynes tries; Turner, Hutchinson, Field, Hughes con) d Norths 19 (Samoa L 2, Samoa J, Namo tries; Samoa L 2 Namo con) Uprising Beach Resort 24 (Toroca 2, Solomone, Vasuinubu tries; Turagayawa, Bruce)d Samoan Virgin Blue Islanders 21 (Rawaqa 2, Kirifi tries; Satala 3 con.

POOL C: Sunnybank 34 (Moses 2, Kepu, Semiti, Routledge, Adams, Swann tries; Routledge 2 con) d Island Breeze 12 (Roqica, Waqairagata tries; Gabey con) Aussie Spirit 42 (Taylor 2, Gray 2, Foley, Karauria-Henry tries; Stannard 3, Karauria-Henry 2, Bishop con) d Country King Browns 14 (Cochrane, Morgan tries; Walker 2 con)

POOL D: Warblers 24 (Te kiri 2, Dillworth, Martinga tries; Te kiri 2 con) d Eagles 12 (Rankin, Brown tries; Heilbronn con)Queensland Barbarians (Simmons, Davies, Feanati, Murphy tries; Lucas 2 con) 24 d Aussie Legends 10 (Fou, Donnelly tries).

DAY 1 STANDINGS

Pool A  South Sea Drifters (1) MRDC Menjals, PNG (2) Nadi Brisbane (3) Gold Coast Breakers (4)

Pool B  Uprising Beach Resort (1) Samoa Virgin Blue Islanders (2) Souths (3) Norths (4).

Pool C  Aussie Spirit (1) Sunnybank (2) Country King Browns (3) Island Breeze (4).

Pool D Queensland Barbarians (1) Aussie Legends (2) Warblers (3) Eagles (4).

WOMEN

Round One: Outkast 26 (Brewer, Ratana, Mura tries; Mura 3, Kunst 1

conversions) d UQ/Brothers 0; Eastsyde Brisbane 38 ( Parry 2, Gilbert, Tipene, Gary, Virtue tries; Campbell 4 con) d Drake Insurance 0

Round Two: Eastsyde Brisbane 43 (Gilbert 3, Turner 2, Parry, Nikora tries; Campbell 4 con) d Outkast 0 Sydney Womens 63 (Morgan 3, Hodgkinson 2, Giteau 2, Soon, McNulty tries; Morgan 9 con) d UQ/Brothers 0

Round three: Sydney Women 27 (Porter 2, Hodgkinson, Giteau, Milward tries; Morgan con) d Drake Insurance Gold Coast 7 (Dawson try, Fraser con);

Eastsyde Women 29 (Gary 2, Gould, Virtue, Nikora tries; Gary 2 con) d UQ/Brothers 0

Round four: Sydney Women 44 (Giteau 3, Porter, Hodgkinson, Morgan, Robertson tries; Morgan 4 con) d Outkast 0; Drake Insurance Gold Coast 41 (Donaldson 2, Horton, Gemmell, Shaw, Rowlands, Harris tires; Fraser 2, Gemmell con) d UQ/Brothers 10 (Current, Bosomworth tries).

Round five: Outkast 29 (Tualetenu, Mura, Brewer, Tupuhi tries; Brigginshaw 2 con) d Drake Insurance GC 5 (Gemmell try) Women Game 10 Eastsyde Brisbane 29 (Gilbert 3, Turner, Parry tries; Campbell 2 con) d Sydney Women 12 (Burnes 2 tries; Morgan con)

DAY ONE STANDINGS

Eastsyde Brisbane

Sydney Women

Outkast

Drake Insurance Gold Coast

UQ/Brothers

Top Try Scorers

Five

Albert Levi Jr (MRDC Menjals)      

Dan Rawaqa (Samoan Virgin Blue Islanders)                    

Joel Sykes (Gold Coast Breakers)                                  

Four

Paul Donnelly (Aussie Legends)  

Three  

Elias Power       (Aussie Legends)

Iosefo Solomone Joti (Uprising Beach)                  

Jesse Mogg (Aussie Legends)                                                     

Top Point Scorers

31 (5 tries, 3 conversions)                                

Albert Levi Jr (MRDC Menjals)      

25 (5 tries)       

Dan Rawaqa (Samoan Virgin Blue Islanders)                    

25 (5 tries)

Sykes   Joel      (GC Breakers)                                                                

24 (2 tries 7 conversions)

Viliami Satala (Samoan Virgin Blue Islanders)       

22 (4 tries 1 conversions)

Paul Donnelly (Aussie Legends)

Women

Top Try Scorers

Seven
Aimee Gilbert (Eastsyde Brisbane)          

Six

Kristy Giteau (Sydney Women)

Four

Cobie - Jane Morgan (Sydney Women)    

Debby Hodgkinson (Sydney Women)        

Shannon Parry (Eastsyde Brisbane)                    

Top Point Scorers

50 (4 tries, 15 conversions)

Cobie - Jane Morgan (Sydney Women)

35 (7 tries)                   

Aimee Gilbert (Eastsyde Brisbane)
30 (6 tries)                                                       

Kristy Giteau (Sydney Women)

20 (4 tries)

Debby Hodgkinson (Sydney Women)                   

20 (4 tries)

Parry    Shannon (Eastsyde Brisbane)                              

20 (10 conversions)

Cheyenne Campbell (Eastsyde Brisbane)