London Sevens: Top two face off
Fiji easily saw off France 40-7 while the BlitzBoks held on in the final moments to edge Argentina 21-19. Meanwhile, defending London Sevens champions the USA were unstoppable in the second half of their quarterfinal against New Zealand, securing a 42-14 win.
In the final Cup quarterfinal, hosts England were dumped out of the Cup section by rivals Scotland. Scotland made it to their first Cup semifinal of the season when they kept England scoreless to claim a 17-0 victory and set up a semifinal clash with the USA.
In the Bowl quarterfinals, it's the end of the road for Portugal in terms of being a core team on the World Sevens Series, with a 17-12 defeat by Australia confirming their relegation. They'll be replaced as a core team by Japan in the 2016/17 series.
In the other Bowl quarters, Canada proved too strong for Rio 2016 hosts Brazil with a 19-7 victory and they'll now meet Wales, who scored a late try to beat Singapore champions Kenya 21-19. The other semi-final will pit Paris champions Samoa – who scored a late try to beat Russia 22-17 – against Australia.
We look at the Cup quarterfinals!
South Africa 21-19 Argentina
Argentina upset New Zealand in the Cup quarter-finals in Paris, but quickly found themselves two tries down at Twickenham, with Chris Dry and then Rosko Specman crossing the line. You can't keep Argentina down though and Axel Muller used his strength to go under the posts with a minute to go in the half.
But there was still time for Dylan Sage to send Cecil Afrika away with an inside pass to restore the Blitzboks' 14-point advantage at the break.
Argentina managed to get their hands on the ball more in the second half but they just couldn't find a way through the South African defence, until with less than a minute on the clock, Santiago Cordero caught the Blitzbok defence napping from a penalty to score to make it a seven-point game.
A yellow card for Stephan Dippenaar gave Argentina one final play and Javier Rojas went over in the corner. Unfortunately for Los Pumas, his conversion drifted just wide and South Africa survive to reach the Cup semis.
France 7-40 Fiji
Fiji struck the first blow when Viliame Mata went over for the opening try, but France hit back when their Fijian-born star Virimi Vakatawa caused havoc in the champions' defence for Arthur Retiere to put Les Bleus ahead.
The lead never lasted long though, as Fiji offloaded out of every tackle for Jerry Tuwai to go under the posts. Vakatawa then turned villain with a yellow card but Fiji failed to capitalise and held a 12-7 lead at the break.
Fiji grabbed two quick-fire tries early in the second half to take the game away from France. First, Jasa Veremalua and then Kitione Taliga went over for Fiji to the delight of their fans in the Twickenham crowd.
They then put some gloss on the victory when Waisea Nayacalevu shrugged of a tackler to run in another score. France kept battling and Jean Pascale Barraque thought he was away, only for NFL and League convert Jarryd Hayne to ankle tap him to put a big smile on his face.
There was still time for Amenoni Nasilasila to round off the scoring and get the Fijian flags waving once more.
New Zealand 14-42 USA
Sonny Bill Williams limped off early in the match but New Zealand still struck the first blow through Rieko Ioane's sixth try of the weekend. The lead never lasted long though as Perry Baker found some space and the flyer turned on the speed.
New Zealand were soon back in front as a wayward Martin Iosefo pass bounced into Lewis Ormond's arms to gift the Kiwi a try. However, Baker had the final say of the half as he sped over the line to keep the match levelled at half-time.
USA captain Madison Hughes got the ball rolling in the second half when he chased down his own grubber kick to give the defending London champions the lead for the first time. Then is began the Baker show as the USA speedster grabbed a further two tries to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Baker became only the second player to score four tries in a match this season. The Eagles were not done though as Ben Pinkleman went over for the final score of the game.
England 0-17 Scotland
England may have impressed on Day One but made too many errors in the first half. Scotland took full advantage of those mistakes and silenced the home crowd with an opening try Damien Hoyland.
Scotland frustrated England and remained on top of proceedings. All that dominance finally paid off when James Fleming grabbed Scotland's second try. England captain Tom Mitchell was forced off the field after taking a hard knock to the knee in the process.
Mark Robertson closed out the match when he beat five players in the closing stages of the encounter.
Results:
Bowl quarterfinals:
Canada v Brazil, 19-7
Kenya v Canada, 19-21
Russia v Samoa, 17-22
Australia v Portugal, 17-12
Cup quarterfinals:
South Africa v Argentina, 21-19
France v Fiji, 7-40
New Zealand v USA, 14-42
England v Scotland, 0-17
Semifinal fixtures:
(Kick-off is local – GMT plus one hour)
Shield:
Brazil v Kenya, 12.36
Russai v Portugal, 12.58
Bowl:
Canada v Wales, 13.20
Samoa v Australia, 13.42
Plate:
Argentina v France, 14.04
New Zealand v England, 14.26
Cup:
South Africa v Fiji, 14.48
Scotland v USA, 15.10
