Rugby Canada’s National Senior Men’s Sevens Team has started the Hong Kong Sevens with a 35-5 win over Philippines.

Scoring five tries, the Canadians first got on the board with a Sean Duke try in the 3rd minute, with captain Nathan Hirayama converting. Two more tries from Nanyak Dala and Hirayama, both converted by Hirayama, meant Canada led 21-0 at the break.

The second half saw no scoring until the 6th minute when Philippines got on the board with an unconverted try to close the gap to 21-5.

But Canada finished strong with two late tries, the first by Taylor Paris and the second by Chaucey O’Toole, both with conversions by Nathan Hirayama.

With the two second half conversions, Hirayama capped off an impressive day that saw him score a try as well as go 5/5 kicking for a total of 15 points.

At the final whistle Canada emerged victorious by a 30-point margin.

"I am pleased that we started with a win and also to score five tries was also pleasing," stated coach Geraint John. "Everyone today seemed to start nervously - all games and teams which can be seen by the results

"Key thing for us today was to start well score tries and to come away with a clean bill of health and we have done that. Also to finish the day on a plus 30 was also satisfying"

Canada will go back into action on Saturday, when they will face the other two teams in their pool, Zimbabwe and Spain.

Those two teams faced off against each other on Friday, with Spain taking an early lead on the Zimbabwe team and never giving it up, coming away with the 19-5 victory.

The Canadians will look to use the momentum of Friday's win against the Zimbabwe team, who are sitting 17th in the Sevens World Series standings. Spain is not currently ranked by the Sevens World Series.

"Tomorrow will be difficult and we have to make sure we are totally focused," continued John. "Zimbabwe have some dangerous runners and will want to make amends after losing to Spain.

"I thought Spain looked very good in their game and win; they moved the ball well and offloaded and tackled and pressurized Zimbabwe."

Canada hits the pitch Saturday at 12:48 local time when they face Zimbabwe and again at 6:03 pm local time to take on Spain.

The National Men's 7s team is proudly sponsored by Macquarie Financial in association with Trafigura Ltd. .

1st half
0:14 Christopher Hitch PHI Sin Bin
2:12 Sean Duke CAN Try
2:35 Nathan Hirayama (c) CAN Conversion
4:02 Nanyak Dala CAN Try
4:28 Nathan Hirayama (c) CAN Conversion
6:19 Conor Trainor CAN Sin Bin
7:00 Nathan Hirayama (c) CAN Try
7:16 Nathan Hirayama (c) CAN Conversion

2nd half
0:03 Patrice Olivier PHI Substitution
0:06 Sean White CAN Substitution
1:38 Jeffery Hassler CAN Substitution
4:09 Oliver Saunders PHI Substitution
4:12 Tyler Ardron CAN Substitution
4:15 Mark Chatting PHI Substitution
5:53 Justin Coveney PHI Try
6:09 Oliver Saunders PHI ConMiss
6:44 Taylor Paris CAN Try
7:10 Nathan Hirayama (c) CAN Conversion
7:49 Chauncey O'Toole CAN Try
8:15 Nathan Hirayama (c) CAN Conversion

Men's Roster
Tyler Ardron (McMaster Marauders, Ontario Blues) (Peterborough, ON)
Nanyak Dala (Castaway Wanderers, Prairie Wolf Pack) (Saskatoon, SK)
Sean Duke (University of Victoria, British Columbia) (Vancouver, BC)
Ciaran Hearn (Castaway Wanderers, The Rock) (Conception Bay, NL)
Nathan Hirayama (University of Victoria, British Columbia) (Richmond, BC)
Taylor Paris (Markham Irish Canadians, Ontario Blues) (Barrie, ON)
Conor Trainor (UBC, Old Boy Ravens, British Columbia) (Vancouver, BC)
Sean White (James Bay, British Columbia) (Victoria, BC)
Harry Jones (University of British Columbia, British Columbia) (Vancouver, BC)
Mike Scholz (Castaway Wanderers, Ontario Blues) (Oakville, ON)
Chauncey O’Toole (Belleisle Rovers, Ospreys, The Rock) (Saint John, NB)
Jeff Hassler (Okotoks RFC, Prairie Wolf Pack) (Okotoks, AB)
John Moonlight (James Bay, Ontario Blues) (Scarborough, ON)