Aussie Sevens lose Plate semi-final

The Australian Men's Sevens side had a disappointing end to the Singapore Sevens, with a 31-7 Plate semi-final loss to New Zealand.

In the side's worst finish of the season, an under strength Australia competed hard against their trans-Tasman rivals but were on the back foot for the majority of the match.

Stephan Van Der Walt scored the only Aussie try of the match, just shy of half-time to put the margin to just five points at the break.

Three unanswered second half New Zealand tries put the match beyond doubt, and ended Australia's chances of any silverware in Singapore.

More good learnings coming out of Singapore. Need to keep believing and building - our time will come!! Heads held high 🇦🇺

— Andy Friend (@andyfriend2011) April 17, 2016

Though they had a middle of the road final placing, the tournament proved good experience for some of Australia's less experienced brigade, including John Porch and Sam Figg.

New Zealand lost the Plate final to Samoa 21-26, while Fiji and Kenya played off in the Cup final, with South Africa beating Argentina to third place.

Australia sits fourth in the World Sevens Series standings, with two legs - Paris and London - left in the 2015-16 tour, before August's Rio Olympics caps off a hectic 2016 schedule.

With just why of a month until the Paris leg, Australia will be hoping for a number of their injured stars to make progress in their recovery.

Lewis Holland (foot), Nick Cummins (ankle), Henry Speight (eye), Tom Lucas (knee), Nick Malouf (knee), Simon Kennewell (ankle), Pama Fou (shoulder), Henry Hutchison (foot), Greg Jeloudev (foot) and Tom Cusack (wrist) unavailable.

The Paris leg of the Sevens World Series runs from May 13-15.