Wales made history by reaching their first ever HSBC Sevens World Series final before being controversially denied by Fiji at the Hong Kong Sevens, yesterday.
Paul John’s men saw off Canada 28-14 and Kenya 19-0 to earn their tilt for a historic title – then raced into a 19-0 first-half lead with two tries from Cardiff Blues centre Cory Allen and Ystrad Rhondda’s Alex Webber.
The Pacific islanders, however, produced a stunning comeback with Asea Kolinisau completing a hat-trick of tries to clinch the 26-19 victory.
But Wales could argue they should have played the second half against six men as Ilai Tinai was lucky not to receive a red card – rather than a yellow one – for his spear tackle on Lee Williams.
England recovered from their pool stage problems by hammering France 42-7 and South Africa 26-14 before overwhelming hosts Hong Kong 42-7 in the Bowl final.
John Brake scored twice with Dan Norton, Mike Ellery, Rob Vickerman and Sam Edgerley touching down against Hong Kong.
Scotland’s 14-5 pool stage win over England had tipped Ben Ryan’s side out of the cup competition but they collapsed on day three.
The Scots went down 21-14 against the United States – Chris Dean and James Johnstone scoring – and then 12-5 to Argentina with James Fleming claiming their consolation try.
The results see Wales climb to sixth in the overall table, with England in 10th and Scotland 12th with the latter in danger of being dragged into the end-of-season relegation play-offs.
The core series teams now head for Tokyo, which hosts the seventh leg of the series next weekend.
Top 10 nations
1. New Zealand 113; 2. Fiji 88; 3. Samoa 84; 4. South Africa 78; 5. Kenya 72; 6. Wales 63; 7. France 62; 8. Argentina 55; 9. Canada 51; 10. England 50.