Dramatic Day 1 in Las Vegas

A number of close matches and surprise results marked the first day of the Las Vegas stop on the HSBC Sevens Series. With two rounds of pool play complete, five teams have already qualified for the Cup finals, with Argentina the first to do so from the Americas. Canada share the same pool as hosts USA and the two sides fought to a draw in surely the most tense battle of the day.

The North Americans had mixed results coming from their tournament openers. Canada were routed by favorites South Africa while the USA just crept past a scrappy Wales side who contested heavily at the breakdown. The Eagles got the jump on their neighbors with an opening minute try to Zack Test, and then the first of two scintillating individual scores from Perry Baker – a long-range chip and regather – put the Canadians two scores down.

RE:LIVE! Wow, hats off to @SpeedStick11 that was some brace you just scored against @RugbyCanada! #USA7shttps://t.co/8XTf1amP9P

— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) March 5, 2016

Admir Cejvanovic got one back for Canada but Martin Iosefo erased the score with one of his own just before the break. Baker’s second was equally if not more sensational than the first as he rounded the defense inside his own in-goal area to run 110 metres untouched to score another classic. Just as Canada looked done-and-dusted, a fine effort from Conor Trainor and some inspiration from Phil Mack to set up Nathan Hirayama closed the gap to a single score.

WHO’S FASTER THAN YOU? 11.16 seconds for an actual length of the field try for @speedstick11! #USA7s @usainbolthttps://t.co/cTyv8t5lIo

— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) March 5, 2016

Mack was in vintage form on his 50th Series tournament, scoring Canada’s only try against the Blitzbokke as a replacement and earning the start in game two against the Eagles. After setting up Hirayama it was the little playmaker again in the thick of things, this time doing the honours himself to draw the scores level and keep his team in the hunt for the Cup finals.

Canada have work to do to achieve that. They’ll need to beat Wales and hope South Africa defeat the USA, and even then they have a 19 point deficit to overcome to overtake the host side. A draw against the Blitzbokke will be enough for the Eagles to push through, and a loss within one score will likely do the trick as well.

The Pumas looked efficient as they knocked off both France and Samoa with little difficulty. They’ll face Fiji in their remaining pool match on day two, a side that looked slightly lethargic in a loss to Samoa with reports of an illness spreading through their camp. Should they lose to Argentina, they’ll need France to knock off Samoa to sneak into the Cup round.

Elsewhere New Zealand, Australia, and Kenya have qualified for the Cup quarter-finals after dominant showing in their matches. England on the other hand are almost assuredly out as they were humbled by Scotland in their second game and lucky to draw with Japan on the final play of their first. The Scots play Japan in a virtual winner-take-all match while England must defeat Australia to have any hope of advancing to the Cup draw.

DAY ONE RESULTS

POOL A
New Zealand 42 – 7 Portugal
Kenya 24 – 21 Russia
New Zealand 38 – 0 Russia
Kenya 38 – 0 Portugal

POOL B
Australia 26 – 0 Scotland
England 19 – 19 Japan
Australia 35 – 5 Japan
England 14 – 24 Scotland

POOL C
Fiji 24 – 28 Samoa
Argentina 26 – 7 France
Fiji 42 – 12 France
Argentina 25 – 12 Samoa

POOL D
South Africa 33 – 7 Canada
USA 19 – 12 Wales
USA 26 – 26 Canada
South Africa 36 – 7 Wales

DAY 2 POOL FIXTURES

Sat, Mar 5 – 11:32 PST, 14:32 EST – POOL A – Portugal vs Russia
Sat, Mar 5 – 11:54 PST, 14:54 EST – POOL A – New Zealand vs Kenya
Sat, Mar 5 – 12:16 PST, 15:16 EST – POOL C – Samoa vs France
Sat, Mar 5 – 12:38 PST, 15:38 EST – POOL C – Fiji vs Argentina
Sat, Mar 5 – 13:24 PST, 16:24 EST – POOL B – Scotland vs Japan
Sat, Mar 5 – 13:46 PST, 16:46 EST – POOL B – Australia vs England
Sat, Mar 5 – 14:08 PST, 17:08 EST – POOL D – Canada vs Wales
Sat, Mar 5 – 14:35 PST, 17:35 EST – POOL D – South Africa vs USA