Hosts Canada up their game in Vancouver

By worldrugby.org 13 March 2017, 12:00AM

Canada have secured their spot in the Cup quarter-finals after a thrilling day one of action in Vancouver

 

Damian McGrath's side put on a show in front of almost 40,000 fans, taking two pool wins from three and narrowly losing out to New Zealand by just one point in their final match. They will face series leaders South Africa in the last eight, guaranteeing themselves a better finish than at last year's Canadian leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, where they finished ninth.

Fellow North Americans USA were one of two sides to clock up three wins from three in the pool stages and will face Argentina in the Cup quarter-finals, a side who caused one of the upsets of the day when they beat Fiji for the first time since 2012.

England, tournament winners in Cape Town last December, will face a so far undefeated New Zealand side in their Cup quarter-finals, a repeat of Las Vegas where the All Blacks Sevens came out on top 19-0. Back-to-back series champions Fiji will play Australia in the fourth Cup quarter-final.

POOL A

The Blitzboks, fresh from their fourth tournament win of the series in Las Vegas, started out with a 33-0 win over Chile with Dylan Sage showing his quality once more scoring two tries. A 15-5 win against Kenya, with tries from Rosko Specman, Chris Dry and Ruhan Nel, set up a showdown for top spot in Pool A with England, a team they lost to in the Cape Town final last December. Dan Norton scored twice for England, while Specman and Sage continued to clock up tries for South Africa, and at full time it was 12-12, enough for South Africa to take top spot in Pool A.

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England's match against Kenya earlier in the day stretched Simon Amor's side to the limits, but Dan Bibby and Norton were able to score a try apiece to take the game away from the, finishing up 28-14. Four tries for England against Chile made it 26-0, while the South Americans almost securing their first win on the series since 2008 when they narrowly lost to Kenya 26-19.

POOL B

Despite not achieving a clean sweep of wins in Pool B, Gareth Baber's Fiji side were in fine fettle on the attacking front, scoring six tries against Wales in their 34-19 victory. Their match against Samoa proved trickier than expected with Gordon Tietjens' side managing to stay on level terms until a late try from Setareki Bituniyata and conversion from Vatemo Ravouvou put the game out of touch 19-12.

Apart from their historic win over Fiji, Argentina had their work cut out against Samoa but a hat-trick of tries from Matias Ocsaduk proved crucial in them taking the three points. Against Wales, it looked business as usual for Gomez Cora's side when they went 14-0 up but a stunning comeback from the Welsh left the game 14-21, as Ben Roach scored the winner. Wales also beat Samoa 21-14, thanks mainly to a double try from Cory Allen, but it wasn't enough to take them through the pool on points difference.

POOL C

USA began their campaign in Vancouver with a convincing eight-try haul against Japan to win 52-0. Martin Iosefo's two tries in their 31-19 win against France made sure they qualified from the pool but it was their 29-5 unpicking of Australia that confirmed their top spot in Pool C.

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Head coach Andy Friend's Australia side scraped past France with a late winner from Ed Jenkins, to take victory 12-7. A hat-trick from Liam McNamara against Japan helped them notch up a 36-7 win. Japan fought hard in their final pool match against France, but eventually went down 31-19 to remain bottom of the group.

POOL D

Four converted tries gave Canada their opening 28-15 win of the day against Scotland, with Nate Hirayama's kicking on point. Powerhouse Adam Zaruba was on song against Russia, scoring three tries in their 26-5 win but in the final match

The All Blacks Sevens put 40 points past Russia with no reply and beat Scotland convincingly 33-12 with Ambrose Curtis making an emphatic return with two tries.

 


By worldrugby.org 13 March 2017, 12:00AM
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