Pumas slide into Finals, Eagles eliminated

Argentina will be the sole representative of the Americas in the medal finals at the Olympic Games after the USA were eliminated in the final round of pool play at Deodoro Stadium on Wednesday. With the result the Eagles can now finish no higher than 9th place.

A thrilling contest against Fiji saw the Eagles take the lead early in both the first and second halves, but Fiji were too strong at the breakdown and replied with two scores to take the wain. A last-minute Nate Ebner try made things interesting but it was was too far out for Madison Hughes to convert, leaving the Eagles one score short of qualifying for the quarter finals.

In incredibly tense start to the day saw France comfortably past Spain 26-5 and then Australia saved their Olympics with a stirring 12-5 upset over South Africa. Japan’s superb form continued over the disappointing Kenyans with a 31-7 result securing the Japanese a spot in the medal rounds.

New Zealand came back from a 21-0 deficit against Great Britain to come within two points, and though they lost 21-19 the points were enough to inch past the Eagles by a single point in differential. Argentina had no trouble with Brazil, winning 31-0 and looking in good form ahead of their quarter final match against Great Britain.

The knock-out rounds begin at 15:00 ET, 16:00 local Brazilian time.

 

POOL STAGE RESULTS

POOL A
USA 14 vs 17 Argentina
Fiji 40 vs 12 Brazil
USA 26 vs 0 Brazil
Fiji 21 vs 14 Argentina
Argentina 31 vs 0 Brazil
Fiji 24 vs 19 USA

POOL B
Australia 14 vs 31 France
South Africa 24 vs 0 Spain
Australia 26 vs 12 Spain
South Africa 26 vs 0 France
France 26 vs 5 Spain
South Africa 5 vs 12 Australia

POOL C
Great Britain 31 vs 7 Kenya
New Zealand 12 vs 14 Japan
Great Britain 21 vs 19 Japan
New Zealand 28 vs 5 Kenya
Kenya 7 vs 31 Japan
New Zealand 19 vs 21 Great Britain

 

KNOCK-OUT FIXTURES (all times local Brazil)

WED, AUG 10 – 16:00 – 9th PLACE SF – USA vs Brazil
WED, AUG 10 – 16:30 – 9th PLACE SF – Spain vs Kenya

WED, AUG 10 – 17:00 – MEDAL QF – Fiji vs New Zealand
WED, AUG 10 – 17:30 – MEDAL QF – Japan vs France
WED, AUG 10 – 18:00 – MEDAL QF – Great Britain vs Argentina
WED, AUG 10 – 18:30 – MEDAL QF – South Africa vs Australia