Fiji 47 West Indies 0 West Indies were thrown into the deep end at the Hong Kong Sevens, coming up against nine-time Cup champions Fiji in their debut appearance.

That they restricted the Fijians to just seven tries in a 47-0 loss is creditable to say the least for the team dubbed by the Hong Kong media as the Reggae Boyz.

Fiji, missing the legendary Waisale Serevi who has been dropped by new coach Tomasi Cama, still had enough firepower to turn on the style and with captain Fero Lasagavibau leading the way with a brace, they quickly had the game under cruise control.

"We did not expect to beat them just to keep up with them -- we competed in phases,'' said West Indies captain Derek (Bobby) Hurdle. "We came to Hong Kong to raise the level of our game and we pretty much did that against Fiji.

"I was pleased with the results. I tried out all my new players and they played well,'' said Fijian coach Cama.

Hurdle and coach Mark Hewitt reckon that the West Indies could spring a surprise against Wales in the first game today.

"We are hoping our fitness shines through -- we have been concentrating on sevens while Wales are coming straight from 15s competition,'' said Hurdle.

"And hopefully it is hot tomorrow -- we are used to the sun.'' Added Hewitt: "We do not need to fear anybody else in the group. If we do not freeze we can do a bit of damage against Wales. We are probably fitter than a lot of the teams as we have been concentrating on sevens for months. Maybe we can cause an upset or two this week.'' The West Indies, whose remaining group game is against Russia, are destined for the Bowl competition tomorrow.

Hewitt said the West Indies -- competing in only their third international sevens competition -- just wanted to get the game against Fiji over with.

"To be honest, we wanted it out of the way,'' he said. "The boys were very nervous in the first half but in the second half they started to show a bit of self belief and could have scored if an attempted pass to the wing had gone to hand.

"We are making a huge step here -- some teams are climbing a hill, (playing Fiji) we were climbing a mountain.'' Fijian force: Kini Radaveta (right), of the Fiji Islands, bursts past a floudering West Indies player during Fiji's 47-0 victory in the Hong Kong Sevens yesterday.