The Manu Samoa Sevens have started the Sydney leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series with a 17-12 win over the tough Ireland side on Friday.

It was the nippy Paul Scanlan who scored first for Samoa in the fourth minute and the Manu Samoa held the lead until towards the end of the first half.

Irish pace-man Jordon Conroy scored a brace of tries just before the breather. Ireland led 12-5 at halftime.

Memories of not being able to make it out of the pool stages and into the Cup round were still fresh with the boys and this gave them motivation for a changed and aggressive performance in the second spell.

Neueli Leitufia scored and converted his own try in the 10^th minute to tie the game at 12-12. It was Motu Opetai who clinched the winner in the last minute of the game.

Next up for Samoa is the U.S.A. at 11.22am followed by Spain at 4.43pm on Saturday. The Cup quarter finals are also scheduled to be played on Saturday.

Results from other matches:

USA 33 – 14 Spain

South Africa 31 – 5 Kenya

New Zealand 45 – 7 Uruguay

Fiji 52 – 7 Tonga

France 19 – 17 Japan

Australia 12 – 7 Great Britain

Argentina 24 – 19 Canada