Perfect Day One for Canada in Wellington

Canada were the toast of Day One in Wellington as they produced their best opening-day effort at an HSBC Sevens Series tournament in three years. Head coach Damian McGrath could not have asked for a better start to 2017 as his charges emerged with a perfect three-from-three to top Pool D and earn a place in the Cup quarter finals for the first time since London in May 2015. A marvelous individual performance from Adam Zaruba led the away in the 28-19 match over Scotland and from there the team never looked back, blowing past rivals Wales 28-5 and shutting out Russia by 29-0.

The Canucks will face fellow Americas representatives Argentina in the quarter final. Los Pumas scraped past a tough Kenyan side in their opening fixture but then hit a major stumbling block against England, losing 26-7 in their second match of the day. Papua New Guinea gave them a scare before fading in the second half to ultimately fall 41-14 with some inspired play coming from halfback Lautaro Bazán.

It was a frustrating day for the USA, with an opening round draw against France leaving their fate in the hands of others. After defeating Samoa 24-12 they needed a big performance against New Zealand to get through but it didn’t come, with the men in black stretching away to relegate the Eagles to the consolation round. Japan will be the USA’s first opponent on Day Two.

Elsewhere South Africa emerged predictable favorites after coasting through Pool B, defeating Fiji with surprising ease to march into the quarter finals against France. England look well positioned to meet them in the Cup final should their fortunes continue, showing similar dominance in Pool A. New Zealand got through Pool C unharmed but were made to work in each match and must now face Fiji at the first stage of the knockouts.

All matches on Day Two will be streamed live by World Rugby.

 

DAY ONE RESULTS

POOL A
Kenya 12 – 17 Argentina
England 40 – 0 Papua New Guinea
Kenya 47 – 5 Papua New Guinea
England 26 – 7 Argentina
Argentina 41 – 14 Papua New Guinea
England 31 – 12 Kenya

POOL B
Fiji 26 – 12 Australia
South Africa 33 – 0 Japan
Fiji 56 – 0 Japan
South Africa 28 – 0 Australia
Australia 33 – 12 Japan
South Africa 31 – 12 Fiji

POOL C
USA 21 – 21 France
New Zealand 33 – 7 Samoa
USA 24 – 12 Samoa
New Zealand 21 – 14 France
France 28 – 5 Samoa
New Zealand 24 – 12 USA

POOL D
Wales 33 – 0 Russia
Scotland 19 – 28 Canada
Wales 5 – 28 Canada
Scotland 12 – 5 Russia
Russia 0 – 29 Canada
Scotland 31 – 7 Wales

 

DAY TWO FIXTURES (ALL TIMES EST)

01/28 – 17:00 – TROPHY QF – Kenya vs Russia
01/28 – 17:22 – TROPHY QF – USA vs Japan
01/28 – 17:44 – TROPHY QF – Wales vs Papua New Guinea
01/28 – 18:06 – TROPHY QF – Australia vs Samoa

01/28 – 18:38 – CUP QF – England vs Scotland
01/28 – 19:00 – CUP QF – New Zealand vs Fiji
01/28 – 19:22 – CUP QF – Canada vs Argentina
01/28 – 19:44 – CUP QF – South Africa vs France