Upsets mark Day One in Singapore

France caused a ripple in the tournament field by dominating New Zealand in the third game of the day to spark a number of upset victories on Day One at the HSBC Sevens Series event in Singapore. The French followed it up with wins over both USA and Canada to march through to the Cup quarters with three wins from three, one of only two teams to achieve that along with South Africa.

Not to be left out, Samoa opened up their account by shocking series leaders Fiji, scoring four tries in a result that ultimately knocked England out of the Cup rounds, despite England beating Samoa later in the day. Argentina notched a slight upset of their own, knocking off Australia before smashing Wales and drawing with upstart Japan, who in turn had earlier raced past Wales.

Both USA and Canada would be bitterly disappointed with their first day. USA put Canada to the sword but stumbled against France and came up short again to New Zealand. Canada meanwhile never looked like winning any of their three matches on the day. Neither North American side have qualified for the Cup finals, leaving Argentina the only Americas representative in the top eight.

The surprise turn of events means that the top four teams in the overall standings are all sandwiched into one bracket in the Cup draw, meaning one of Argentina, France, Kenya, or Samoa will play in the Cup final. USA will look to redeem themselves by winning the Bowl competition, while Canada need to find any kind of form to avoid another Shield draw with Scotland their next opponent in the Bowl quarter final.

POOL A
Fiji 14 – 28 Samoa
England 14 – 7 Portugal
Fiji 38 – 0 Portugal
England 12 – 5 Samoa
Samoa 28 – 12 Portugal
Fiji 26 – 12 England

POOL B
New Zealand 0 – 24 France
USA 36 – 14 Canada
New Zealand 24 – 17 Canada
USA 17 – 19 France
France 26 – 19 Canada
New Zealand 19 – 12 USA

POOL C
South Africa 33 – 0 Scotland
Kenya 21 – 7 Russia
South Africa 21 – 10 Russia
Kenya 12 – 12 Scotland
Scotland 36 – 17 Russia
South Africa 14 – 0 Kenya

POOL D
Australia 7 – 12 Argentina
Wales 19 – 26 Japan
Australia 17 – 12 Japan
Wales 21 – 42 Argentina
Argentina 21 – 21 Japan
Australia 31 – 12 Wales

DAY TWO FIXTURES
Sat, Apr 16 – 22:30 ET – BOWL QF – England vs Wales
Sat, Apr 16 – 22:52 ET – BOWL QF – Scotland vs Canada
Sat, Apr 16 – 23:14 ET – BOWL QF – Japan vs Portugal
Sat, Apr 16 – 23:36 ET – BOWL QF – USA vs Russia

Sat, Apr 16 – 23:58 ET – CUP QF – Fiji vs Australia
Sun, Apr 17 – 00:20 ET – CUP QF – South Africa vs New Zealand
Sun, Apr 17 – 00:42 ET – CUP QF – Argentina vs Samoa
Sun, Apr 17 – 01:04 ET – CUP QF – France vs Kenya

Sun, Apr 17 – 01:51 ET – SHIELD SF 1
Sun, Apr 17 – 02:13 ET – SHIELD SF 2

Sun, Apr 17 – 02:35 ET – BOWL SF 1
Sun, Apr 17 – 02:57 ET – BOWL SF 2

Sun, Apr 17 – 03:44 ET – PLATE SF 1
Sun, Apr 17 – 04:06 ET – PLATE SF 2

Sun, Apr 17 – 04:28 ET – CUP SF 1
Sun, Apr 17 – 04:50 ET – CUP SF 2

Sun, Apr 17 – 05:37 ET – SHIELD FINAL
Sun, Apr 17 – 06:05 ET – BOWL FINAL
Sun, Apr 17 – 06:33 ET – PLATE FINAL
Sun, Apr 17 – 07:01 ET – BRONZE FINAL
Sun, Apr 17 – 07:38 ET – CUP FINAL