England knock over the BlitzBoks

Rodwell matched Frankie Horne's record of 68 consecutive world series tournaments, with England holding on for a 21-14 win in the face of a strong second-half charge by the BlitzBoks.

Hong Kong is the seventh leg of the 10-tournament 2015/16 World Series.

Trailing Fiji by only one point in the World Series, South Africa were widely tipped to win the last match of the day.

However, from the outset they faced a focused and disciplined England boosted by the fitness of captain Tom Mitchell and the return form of Dan Norton.

Pool A

Kenya signaled their intent early on with a powerful four-try win against Samoa and in the other match in the pool New Zealand came back from 0-17 against a Virimi Vakatawa-inspired France to win 19-17.

Pool B

While England's heroics stole the headlines at the end of the day, Scotland's earlier 28-15 win against Russia means that they top the group ahead of England with the remaining pool matches to be played on day two.

Pool C

Captain Ed Jenkins scored his 100th try and put in a star turn for the series fourth-ranked team Australia as they enjoyed a resounding 28-0 win against Argentina. The season's fifth-placed side, the United States, lie second in the pool after a 21-5 win against Portugal.

Pool D

Semi Kunatani's converted try at the death got Fiji out of jail against Canada but their 19-17 win currently places them second in the pool behind Wales, who beat Korea 40-14.

Day One results:

Samoa 0-24 Kenya

Wales 40-14 Korea

United States 21-5 Portugal

Scotland 28-15 Russia

New Zealand 19-17 France

Fiji 19-17 Canada

Australia 28-0 Argentina

South Africa 14-21 England