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Nick Jordan in Singapore

The Penguins RFC, Ponsonby RFC, Davetalevu and the South African Vipers, with a wild card in the form of Horowhenua-Kapiti, shape up as the teams to beat after Day Two of the 63rd Singapore Cricket Club Rugby Sevens at the Padang.

The five sides, three of them former winners of the Ablitt Cup, join 11 others vying for supremacy on a gruelling final day, where a knockout round of 16 is played prior to the quarters, semis and final.

Cottesloe from Perth nearly caused a major upset against the Borneo Eagles, with the Kiwi-laden Malaysian side escaping 21-19 at the death thanks to a try to Aaron Smith. Fellow Australians Casuarina Cougars held NS Wanderers to 7-7 at halftime before three tries to Timoci Saukuru sealed a 28-7 victory to the Wanderers.

Otherwise, the leading teams all stepped up a gear in their Day Two fixtures as temperatures rose to 33 degrees. Conditions turned again for the final round under the floodlights with steady drizzle throughout turning into a brief but heavy downpour.

Day Two began when David Raikuna and Johnny McNicholl each scored twice as the march of the Penguins continued. A 40-5 victory by the UK touring club over Almaty RFC 40-5 was followed by a 29-0 toppling of the Borneo Eagles to finish Pool A unbeaten.

In a tight first half the three tries to the Penguins' Matt Hodson were decisive. Ben Botica, the son of former All Black Frano, scored the other two.

Coach John McKittrick said the team had grown over the three Pool matches.

"We always knew they were going to be tough and they had to be respected but we took a lot out of watching them play Cottesloe," he said. "The drizzle forced us to change how we wanted to play the game and we have a squad with a physical forward pack so we can adjust to damp fields.

"Matt Hodson showed what a class act he is and why he is on Gordon Tietjens' radar for bigger and better things. With a hat-trick of tries you can't ask for anything more."

McKittrick said the systems and patterns were developing within the side and expected his side to get better as the tournament unfolds.

Schoolboy Pita Ah-Ki stood out as Ponsonby (New Zealand) blanked the Singapore Barbarians 33-0 in Pool B. The 18-year old is in his final year at Kelston Boys' High School in Auckland and gained in confidence as the match went on.

The 'Ponies' then swept aside the NS Wanderers 43-7 to go through pool play conceding only one try. Two tries each to Rocky Khan and Fijian international Randell Kamea with others to Shaun Metcalf (on loan from rugby league for the weekend), Scott Curry and Matt Dowling saw the Aucklanders top the pool.

Horowhenua-Kapiti (also from New Zealand) topped a half-century running in eight tries to beat the Southern Lions in Pool C. Captain Warwick Lahmert was everywhere while Michael Tambour scored twice for the first-time visitors to the tournament.

They later continued the Kiwi domination over Malaysia coming from behind twice to defeat COBRA 27-19. Willie Pavaiva, another schoolboy, and Tambour scored twice and Michael Fox once for the victors.

Lahmert was overjoyed to be in Singapore.

"To be invited here tops off a great year after beating Auckland and Wellington at Queenstown earlier this year," he said. "We were expected to be ranked low in the seedings and the guys showeda lot of heart to live up to the top seeding.

"It's amazing to be playing in storms and the muggy conditions. We are really looking forward to tomorrow."

Davetalevu also hoisted 50 points against the Flying Kukris in Pool E. Nutieli Nacagilevu ran in three of the 10 tries in a glorified training run that finished 62-0. Hong Kong later put up a competitive showing trailing 0-12 at half-time before the bigger Fijians closed out a 33-0 win.

Three-time defending champion the SA Vipers had the better of East Arnhem Rugby in Pool F pulling away to win 36-7 with former Blitz Bokke Howard Noble scoring twice.

In the final match of the night the Vipers won the all-African clash over Impala. Captain Kyle Brown scored early though an inability to handle the slippery ball cost them further scores in the first spell.

Mark Richards doubled the lead before Petrus Engelbrecht went in the corner to seal a soggy 19-0 victory.

Japan Samurai, the development squad for the reigning Asian Games champions, struggled to beat countrymen Tamariva RFC 14-0 in Pool D and later edged Sunnybank 24-19 on the hooter.

Hong Kong Dragons dropped out of contention with a 24-17 loss to Palmyra from Perth, WA, before losing to Davetalevu while Sri Lanka suffered a heartbreaking 19-21 loss to Impala from Kenya when a last-minute conversion went astray.

The match of the day, however, was the women's semifinal between the host nation Singapore and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong led throughout and went into the break up 12-5 but an excellent try to Wang Shao-Ing levelled the scores with three minutes to play. Both teams had their opportunities as the clock wound down, particularly the locals who were held up more than once over the line.

With the match going into extra time Singapore applied the pressure and a tap penalty gave them the opportunity five metres out. Derelyn Chua barged over to send a delighted Singapore into the final against Japan.

There Japan proved too strong winning 14-0 through tries to Chikami Inoue and Misaki Suzuki to claim the Ladies ARFU Cup.

Singapore captain Eunice Tay was upbeat despite the loss.

"We know that we can beat Japan and we didn't show enough composure in that game. We lost through our own mistakes but we now know their weaknesses and the girls will come back strong at the Asian Games (later this month).

"All of us are very excited about the first women's rugby at the Asian Games. We have been training for a long time and as part of our preparation we beat Samoa and Tonga which built the confidence up. Nobody expected us to do that as they are so much bigger and faster than us but we did it!"

Tay said the highlight of the weekend was the semi-final victory in front of their home crowd.

"The win against Hong Kong was a great achievement as we haven't beaten them for about five years. The crowd was fantastic with people cheering for us, they even know our names, and that was a great joy for us."

Hong Kong won a tense and exciting plate final 19-7 over India, after scores were tied 7-7 at half-time, and the SCC will consider the inaugural women's tournament a resounding success. The tiny Ho Ting Chan and the blockbusting Samantha Scott starred for the victors while Sheetal Maurya's runaway try for India brought the house down.

Day Three starts at 8:30 local time and for the first time ever the finals will be live on StarHub in Singapore and Sky Sports in New Zealand.

Results - Ablitt Cup
Pool A: Penguins 31 Cottesloe 0, Borneo Eagles 47 Almaty 0, Penguins 40 Almaty 5, Borneo Eagles 21 Cottesloe 19, Cottesloe 31 Almaty 7, Penguins 29 Borneo Eagles 0
Pool B: Ponsonby 31 Casuarina Cougars 0, NS Wanderers 38 Singapore Barbarians 0, Ponsonby 33 Singapore Barbarians 0, NS Wanderers 28 Casuarina Cougars 7, Singapore Barbarians 12 Casuarina Cougars 5, Ponsonby 43 NS Wanderers 7
Pool C: Horowhenua-Kapiti 15 Singapore CC 0, COBRA 31 Southern Lions 0, Horowhenua-Kapiti 50 Southern Lions 0, COBRA 19 Singapore CC 0, Singapore CC 12 Southern Lions 12, Horowhenua-Kapiti 27 COBRA 19
Pool D: Japan Samurai 17 NT Mosquitoes 12, Sunnybank 29 Tamariva 5, Japan Samurais 12 Tamariva 7, Sunnybank 22 NT Mosquitoes 7, NT Mosquitoes 33 Tamariva 0, Japan Samurai 24 Sunnybank 19
Pool E: Davetalevu 19 Palmyra 0, Hong Kong Dragons 38 Flying Kukris 0, Davetalevu 62 Flying Kukris 0, Palmyra 24 Hong Kong Dragons 17, Palmyra 47 Flying Kukris 0, Davatelevu 33 Hong Kong Dragons 0
Pool F: SA Vipers 47 Sri Lanka 14, Impala 26 East Arnhem Gove 7, SA Vipers 36 East Arnhem Gove 7, Impala 21 Sri Lanka 19, East Arnhem Gove 17 Sri Lanka 5, SA Vipers 19 Impala 0

Results - Women's
Cup final: Japan 14 Singapore 0
Plate final: Hong Kong 19 India 7

Draw for Sunday 7 November
Ablitt Cup
Penguins v SCC
Ponsonby v Sunnybank
Hong Kong Dragons v NT Mosquitoes
Palmyra v Impala
Borneo Eagles v NS Wanderers
Japan Samurai v Hong Kong Dragons
Davetalevu v COBRA
SA Vipers v Cottesloe

Nick Jordan is in SIngapore with thanks to the Singapore Cricket Club, Tourism Fiji and Air Pacific.