Australia have finished fourth at the Hong Kong Sevens in a lacklustre end to what was shaping as a promising campaign.
New Zealand, who reclaim top spot in the overall standings in the Sevens World Series, won the tournament after pushing aside England 26-7.
The Aussies had looked promising early on but came unstuck at the hands of the Kiwis and flamboyant Fijians.
After topping their pool on Saturday with three straight wins – including a 10-7 upset of series leaders South Africa – Paul Asquith’s converted try after the full-time siren of their quarter-final edged out a spirited Canada 14-12.
It meant Australia qualified for their first semi-final of the world series since the home tournament on the Gold Coast last October.
But they were outgunned by New Zealand 19-7, with the physical Kiwis bullying the Australians off the ball in a comprehensive victory.
Asquith got Australia off to a good start against Fiji in the third-fourth playoff on Sunday but couldn’t stop them going down 21-12.
He crossing for a try after just 63 seconds but the Fijians notched up the next 21 points before Peter Schuster scored Australia’s second try with the last play of the game.
Skipper Ed Jenkins took positives from their second best placing of the season.
“We didn’t play very smart Rugby against Fiji and made too many mistakes,” he said on Sunday.
“Overall though, we’ve got to be pretty happy with our footy over the weekend.
“Beating the-then number one side in the world South Africa last night took a huge effort and we are proud with how we performed.”
Coach Michael O’Connor agreed that Fiji had been tough, especially as injuries to Tom Lucas, Cameron Clark and Greg Jeloudev left the team down to eight players.
But he was pleased with the result, Australia’s best finish in Hong Kong in a decade.
“The highlight of the tour (Tokyo and Hong Kong) has been Afa Pakalani making his debut for us in Japan, while Cameron Clark has been getting better and better,” he said.
“He is in outstanding form at the moment.”
With two more legs remaining in Scotland and England in May, New Zealand top the standings with 136 points, seven points ahead of South Africa who stumbled after losing in the quarter-finals to England, 14-7.
Fiji are third, England fourth and Australia sit in fifth place.
