Australian coach Andy Friend believes anything can happen on the final day of the Sydney Sevens after his men set up a quarter-final outing with Wales following victories against Scotland and Papua New Guinea.
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Australia through to Cup round on day one
New Zealand's men and women beat Australia on Day 2 of the Sydney Sevens on a day where Wales shocked Olympic champions Fiji and Canada won the womens trophy.
Despite an early slip-up against New Zealand, Australia regained their composure to knock off Scotland 43-14 and Papua New Guinea 26-7.
Australia avoided a clash with Olympic champions Fiji in the quarter-finals when New Zealand beat Scotland 14-7 in their final pool match.
If Australia defeat Wales, they will play either USA or South Africa in a semi-final.
Asked whether he would prefer Wales to Fiji in the last eight, Friend conceded he would but made it clear the Welsh were no easybeats after they toppled Fiji themselves 28-15 in the biggest upset of the day.
"Traditionally yes (we would rather Wales), but you saw what they did to Fiji today, so you never know," Friend said. "Probably the pleasing thing from our side is we played them last week and we had a good win against Wales in Wellington. They'll be tough tomorrow though.
"They looked like they were very physical. I thought they were strong up the middle of the park. They carried strong and with intent and into that breakdown and they dominated in that area so we know they're going to be a tough opposition."
![Hat-trick: Teen sensation Tim Anstee set up a big win for Australia over Scotland.](/web/20170205082014im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/5/n/j/r/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu5g7y.png/1486273666945.jpg)
After little success in recent tournaments, Australia have now given themselves a shot at the Cup going into day two and will be buoyed by the fact Fiji and South Africa, the two form teams on the sevens circuit, both lost games on Saturday.
"You've got to be in that quarter-final," Friend said. "We haven't been in the last two tournaments so that's great to get back into that and from there three games and you can win the Cup... anything can happen."
The find of last year's Sydney Sevens was Henry Hutchison and this time around it was 19-year-old Tim Anstee from the Eastwood club in Sydney who scored a hat-trick in the opening three and a half minutes against Scotland.
"I haven't scored a hat-trick for a while, so that was great," Anstee said. "(It was) really exciting those first four minutes. We knew we wanted to come out and start with a bang and to score three early tries was really pleasing."
A Parramatta junior who moved to Eastwood before going down the sevens pathway, Anstee became a crowd favourite on Saturday.
Friend said he was "frustrated" after Australia went down 26-14 to New Zealand in their opening match and a fast start was needed against Scotland to keep their dream alive of replicating last year's final appearance.
Anstee's magic in the opening minutes gave Australia a handy 19-0 buffer in a game they ended up winning comfortably by 29 points.
Friend described Anstee's hat-trick as "unbelievable" and was full of praise for the youngster who turned heads in his fourth World Series event.
"It was unbelievable wasn't it," Friend said. "He's a hell of a footballer and just keeps growing with every game. That first tournament in Dubai, he made me go 'wow'. You wouldn't know he's 19 years of age and playing his first tournament."
Friend said there was a lot to gain from someone like Anstee doing well for it has given his roster of inexperienced players the belief they can step up to the plate at international level.
"It's massive for him and the other boys because Tim Anstee was playing second grade colts last year and here he is now scoring a hat-trick of tries in a World Series," Friend said. "So everyone goes, 'if Timmy Anstee can do it, I can do it' and that means everything because it gives other boys belief."
In other news, England and New Zealand were the only teams to go through the day undefeated.
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