Bay-packed Samurai team secured second place at Hong Kong 10s

The blue and gold Samurai International team went down to Biarritz Gavekal in the Hong Kong 10s Cup Final. Photo / August Liu/Clique Visual

Despite going into the Hong Kong 10s Cup Final undefeated, a Bay of Plenty-packed Samurai International squad fell short of winning the title.

Samurai and Bay of Plenty head coach Clayton McMillan packed his Samurai 10s squad competing in this week's Hong Kong 10s tournament with Bay of Plenty players.

Although McMillan had played the GFI Hong Kong Football Club 10s before, all of his players were new to the competition.

The Bay-packed squad faced defending chmpions Biarritz Gavekal in the Cup Final, going down 19-7 at the Hong Kong Football Club.

They went into the final undefeated and were arguably one of the most impressive teams on day one, which included wins over Hunter and Boo East Africans 33-7 and US's Tiger Rugby 38-10.

"I've had a bit of history with all of the players in this squad, not just my current players, while others who have come in have done great. I've enjoyed a little bit of success here as a player, but that was a long time ago."

Samurai team: Aaron Carroll (Bay of Plenty, Chiefs Development), Valentine Meachen (Bay of Plenty; Wellington), Tom McHugh (Bay of Plenty; Auckland), Jeff Thwaites (Bay of Plenty, Chiefs), Baden Wardlaw (Bay of Plenty; Chiefs), Zane Kapeli (Bay of Plenty, Waikato), George Ben Nicholas, Tom Florence (NZ U20), Timo Sufia (Asahi University, Japan), Luke Campbell (Bay of Plenty; NZL U20s), Timote Tavalea (Yamanashi University, Japan), Emoni Narawa (Bay of Plenty; NZL U19), Matt Garland (Bay of Plenty; Hawke's Bay), Dan Hollinshead (Bay of Plenty; Coca-Cola Red Sparks, Japan), Reece Macdonald (Bay of Plenty 2017), Taniela Filemoni (Bay of Plenty), Pryor Collier (Bay of Plenty; Auckland), Ngarohi McGarvey-Black (NZ 7s). Head coach: Clayton McMillan, assistant coach: Nick Wakley, manager: Fahad Mahandry, physio: Paul Cameron.