Manu Samoa 7s were denied a place in the final at the HSBC SVNS 3 tournament after falling 26-14 to Belgium in the men’s semi-finals on Sunday. 

They made the semifinals of the men’s HSBC SVNS 3 tournament in Dubai as the only unbeaten side in the men’s HSBC SVNS 3 tournament.

Samoa scored two converted tries through Ravuama Seruvakula in the 12th minute and Owen Niue a minute later, but Belgium capitalised on a numerical advantage after forward Taualai Panoa was shown a yellow card in the ninth minute. Playing a man down for two minutes disrupted Samoa’s defensive structure, allowing Belgium to build a lead of 14-0 by halftime.

The loss means that Manu Samoa 7s will not qualify for the next leg of the SVNS series.

The loss sends Manu Samoa 7s into a third-place playoff against Hong Kong China.

In the women’s competition, Manusina 7s were beaten 31-10 by Thailand in the fifth-place semi-final, dropping Manusina into a playoff for seventh place. Samoa’s only points came from unconverted tries by Faaaloalo Luafitu in the fifth minute and Fogamanono Tusiga in the 16th.

Manusina will face Mexico in the seventh-place playoff later in the tournament.

Lakapi Samoa chief executive officer Seumanu Douglas Ngau Chun said the reality of sevens can be brutal. 

"Everything comes down to who fronts up on the day, and today we fell short against a spirited Belgium side. I truly feel for our boys and our Management — they prepared well and sacrificed so much for this campaign, and this result will hurt, no doubt about it. They emptied the tank, left everything on the field, and sometimes even that isn’t enough. That’s the tough, unforgiving nature of 7s rugby," he said.