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Argentina and the USA have qualified for the Men’s Cup Quarter Finals after a highly competitive opening day at the Dubai Sevens. The Eagles were one of only two sides to advance unbeaten, while Los Pumas topped Pool B based on points differential after a three-way tie.
Canada were competitive but ultimately second-best against the USA in a 19-14 result early in the day. The Eagles then stretched their legs in a blowout win over Japan that saw seven different players touching down. A Kevon Williams try in the second half leveled the scores against Samoa with the conversion from Stephen Tomasin just enough to take the victory.
The Canadians found no success against the Samoans, conceding five tries will scoring just one. They would get one positive result as Josiah Morra’s double led the way to a 28-14 win over Japan.
Los Pumas opened their account with a narrow win over New Zealand. They cruised over Uruguay in their second match, but then came up short against Fiji. In keeping the loss to just five points they maintained just enough of a gap to take the top spot in the pool ahead of New Zealand and Fiji.
It was a rough day at the office for Los Teros, who were smashed by three superior opponents. Shutout defeats to Fiji and Argentina were followed by a heavy loss to New Zealand. That match produced their only try of the day via Ignacio Álvarez.
France were the class of Pool C, winning all three matches though they were threated by both Ireland and Uganda. South Africa did just enough to take Pool A, with Great Britain missing out on the Quarter Finals on points differential. Australia were just two points better than the Brits.
Fiji and Great Britain fall into the 9th place Quarter Finals, where Canada will take on Kenya and Uruguay play Spain. Argentina will play Ireland in the first Cup Quarter Final, with the USA up next against Australia. France has drawn New Zealand while South Africa are up against Samoa in the other two Cup Quarter Finals.
A full fixtures list for Day Two can be seen here.
DAY ONE RESULTS
POOL A
South Africa 5 – 14 Great Britain
Australia 19 – 19 Kenya
South Africa 27 – 12 Kenya
Australia 28 – 19 Great Britain
Great Britain 14 – 14 Kenya
Australia 12 – 19 South Africa
POOL B
Argentina 31 – 28 New Zealand
Fiji 52 – 0 Uruguay
Argentina 49 – 0 Uruguay
Fiji 7 – 24 New Zealand
New Zealand 35 – 5 Uruguay
Fiji 17 – 12 Argentina
POOL C
Ireland 21 – 21 Spain
France 10 – 7 Uganda
Ireland 33 – 15 Uganda
France 24 – 10 Spain
Spain 26 – 5 Uganda
France 14 – 7 Ireland
POOL D
USA 19 – 14 Canada
Samoa 38 – 17 Japan
USA 43 – 7 Japan
Samoa 33 – 5 Canada
Samoa 12 – 14 USA
Canada 28 – 14 Japan
DAY TWO FIXTURES
9th PLACE QUARTER FINALS
Fiji vs Uganda
Canada vs Kenya
Spain vs Uruguay
Great Britain vs Japan
CUP QUARTER FINALS
Argentina vs Ireland
USA vs Australia
France vs New Zealand
South Africa vs Samoa
