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No Americas teams have reached the Cup Quarter Finals of the Sydney Sevens. It represents a stark reversal in fortunes after the 1st and 3rd-place finishes respectively for Argentina and the USA just a week ago in Hamilton. Just two wins were shared between the four Americas teams in the pool stage.
The Eagles started well enough on Friday night with a convincing over Spain, with two tries coming from Malacchi Esdale. Saturday’s results were disappointing with Esdale scoring the USA’s only try across two matches against Samoa and Ireland, the second result a shutout.
Argentina suffered a blow before the tournament even began as captain Matías Osadczuk was ruled out with a torn hamstring. They looked to be well on the way to defeat against Canada but Rodrigo Isgro’s two tries within a minute tied the game, and Marcos Moneta won it at the death.
On the flipside, a late lead against Great Britain was squandered and then the team floundered against Australia. Moneta’s early try was washed out by five answered scores by the Australians to cast Los Pumas into the consolation bracket.
Canada’s shocking final moments against Argentina seemed to affect their confidence. A Brock Webster try gave them a halftime lead against Australia but discipline cost the Canadians dearly in the second half. It was largely one-way traffic against Great Britain, who led 26-nil at halftime to leave the Maple Leafs winless through Day Two.
Uruguay were outclassed by New Zealand to start their account on Day One. They gave a better account of themselves against two African opponents on Day Two. Diego Ardao scored first but the Blitzboks roared back to win the second match, while Nelson Oyoo’s double led the Simbas past Los Teros in their third and final pool match.
Fiji look the class of the field at this stage, with South Africa, New Zealand, and France the other Semi Finalists. The USA will square off against Uruguay in the 9th Place Quarter Finals, with Canada up against Tonga and Argentina drawing Japan.
POOL STAGE RESULTS
POOL A
Australia 12 – 7 Great Britain
Argentina 24 – 19 Canada
Australia 22 – 7 Canada
Argentina 19 – 26 Great Britain
Great Britain 33 – 5 Canada
Argentina 10 – 29 Australia
POOL B
South Africa 31 – 5 Kenya
New Zealand 45 – 7 Uruguay
South Africa 28 – 12 Uruguay
New Zealand 33 – 0 Kenya
Kenya 24 – 19 Uruguay
New Zealand 14 – 17 South Africa
POOL C
Ireland 12 – 17 Samoa
USA 33 – 14 Spain
Ireland 26 – 0 Spain
USA 7 – 26 Samoa
Samoa 35 – 15 Spain
USA 0 – 26 Ireland
POOL D
Fiji 52 – 7 Tonga
France 19 – 17 Japan
Fiji 54 – 0 Japan
France 40 – 0 Tonga
Tonga 26 – 12 Japan
France 12 – 19 Fiji
KNOCKOUT RESULTS
CUP QUARTER FINALS
Samoa 0 – 12 New Zealand
South Africa 26 – 12 Ireland
Fiji 26 – 14 Great Britain
Australia 14 – 17 France
