A minor nit, the scalar in your last example is superfluous, since the numeric comparison forces the LHS into scalar context anyway:

$_ = "abacadaeafag";                # or whatever
if ( ( () = /a/g ) > 7 ) {    # more than 7 'hits'?
   # do something...
}
[download]

   MeowChow                                   
               s aamecha.s a..a\u$&owag.print