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The medal dreams of Argentina and the USA in the Men’s Olympic 7s are over. Los Pumas came up short against hosts France in the Quarter Final, with the Eagles shut out by Australia. Uruguay are winless at the tournament and will play Japan for 11th place.
Argentina started strongly in the pool stage with wins over Kenya and Samoa before fading against the Australians. A poor first half saw them down 21-nil to France at halftime in the Quarter Final but Rodrigo Isgró sparked a comeback, and a yellow card left the French down to 6 players with only a seven point lead. Marcos Moneta’s ill-advised decision to kick the ball with a man advantage gave away possession and Les Bleus controlled play through full-time to the delight of the Parisian crowd.
The USA took credit from a draw against France in their opening pool game but were no match for Fiji in their second. A big score against Uruguay was needed to reach the Quarter Finals and Perry Baker led the way with four tries. There was little to celebrate against Australia, however, with a series of unforced errors on attack repeatedly turning the ball over.
In other Quarter Final action South Africa stunned the strongly-favored New Zealand side with a 14-7 result, the Blitzbok defense holding strong despite twice being pushed back to their goal line. Ireland ran out to a 15-7 lead against Fiji but the two-time Gold medallists showed their class to come away with a 19-15 result and retain their unbeaten Olympic status.
Uruguay were outgunned by Fiji and the USA but gave France a close match in the pool stage. They would meet Kenya in the 9th Place Semi Final, with a late try from Baltazar Amaya converted by Guillermo Lijtenstein sending the game to sudden death extra time. A clearance attempt from Lijtenstein ran too long and gave the Simbas a chance to to attack which they took full advantage of as Patrick Odongo showed his pace on a clear sprint down the left sideline to score.
The tournament now takes a pause for a day before returning for the finals on Saturday. Argentina and the USA will be aiming for 5th place with New Zealand awaiting Los Pumas and Ireland up for the Eagles. Los Teros will play Japan with 11th place up for grabs to the winner.
POOL STAGE RESULTS
POOL A
Ireland 10 – 5 South Africa
New Zealand 40 – 12 Japan
Ireland 40 – 5 Japan
New Zealand 17 – 5 South Africa
South Africa 49 – 5 Japan
New Zealand 14 – 12 Ireland
POOL B
Australia 21 – 14 Samoa
Argentina 31 – 12 Kenya
Australia 21 – 7 Kenya
Argentina 28 – 12 Samoa
Samoa 26 – 0 Kenya
Argentina 14 – 22 Australia
POOL C
France 12 – 12 USA
Fiji 40 – 12 Uruguay
France 19 – 12 Uruguay
Fiji 38 – 12 USA
USA 33 – 17 Uruguay
Fiji 19 – 12 France
KNOCKOUT STAGE RESULTS
9th PLACE SEMI FINALS
Samoa 42 – 7 Japan
Uruguay 14 – 19 Kenya
MEDAL QUARTER FINALS
New Zealand 7 – 14 South Africa
Argentina 14 – 26 France
Fiji 19 – 15 Ireland
Australia 18 – 0 USA
JULY 27 FIXTURES
5th PLACE SEMI FINALS
New Zealand vs Argentina
Ireland vs USA
MEDAL SEMI FINALS
South Africa vs France
Fiji vs Australia
11th PLACE FINAL
Japan vs Uruguay
9th PLACE FINAL
Samoa vs Kenya
