Australia have opened their London campaign with a win over Wales as Andy Friend and co. prepare for match-up against Jarryd Hayne.
Wales held the ball early but some excellent cover defence from Henry Hutchison kept them at bay, the youngster recently nominated for the Sevens Rookie of the Year.
An re-invigorated Jesse Parahi, fresh from his swap back to Sevens from Rugby League, starred as he setup Hutchison to open the scoring for Australia.
Wales struggled in a scrappy opening half as Australia turned possession into points with Hutchison grabbing a first half double to take a 10-nil lead into the break.
Sam Figg opened the scoring 30 seconds into the second half as Parahi made the break and offloaded to his skipper Pat McCutcheon who passed to Figg for the score.
It was a welcome return to action for Pama Fou, who’s been out of action since shoulder surgery in mid-December, but he couldn’t chase down Owen Jenkins who opened the scoring for Wales.
Fou got a a score of his own just a minute later, after he scooped up a kick behind from Tom Kingston to take the margin back to 17 points.
Nick Cummins had two minutes of action late in the second half, as he continues his late push for Olympic selection in Friend’s squad.
Wales got the last say on the scoresheet though, as Jenkins grabbed a double in the closing stages to get the score to 22-10.
The Aussie Sevens will next play England at 12.10am AEST as they push for another Cup run, after recent success in London with back to back Cup Final appearances.
