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London Sevens: BlitzBoks down champs

Scotland trailed 10-7 at the break and a strong close to the match helped them surge past the Americans to grab a well-deserved spot in the Final.

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In the Plate section, Argentina put in a five star performance to see off France 31-5 and will now face New Zealand in the Final, after they overcame England 35-10 in the other semifinal.

In the Bowl section, a strong second half performance helped Wales over come Canada 21-17 to book their spot in the Bowl Final, where they will face Australia. The Aussies had to withstand a late Samoan fightback in their semifinal to edge the Pacific Islanders 22-21.

In the Shield semifinals, Kenya were too good for Rio 2016 hosts, Brazil, winning 38-5 while Russia overcame Portugal 26-7. Kenya and Russia will contest the Final.

We look at all the semifinals action!

Cup:

South Africa 26-21 Fiji

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An error by Francois Hougaard turned the ball over and Fiji needed no invitation to attack as Kitione Taliga shrugged off a Cecil Afrika tackle and ran away to score the first try. But the BlitzBoks' response was swift as Tim Agaba slipped a few tackles to tie things up with four minutes gone.

A mix-up in the Fijian defence gave Kyle Brown the opportunity to give South Africa the lead, handing off one tackler and then going over despite the efforts of Samisoni Viriviri. The Series champions worked the ball wide, creating space for Osea Kolinisau and the captain managed to get nearer the posts to make his conversion an easier one. The side's went level into the break.

Dylan Sage showed his strength to go over for South Africa's third try and then Rosko Specman chased down his own chip kick to put the BlitzBoks up by 12. Fiji grabbed a quick score after working the ball wide before Apisai Domolailai stepped back inside to touch down under the posts.

Fiji had one last chance with time up on the clock but failed do it as Chris Dry wrapped his hands around the ball to win a penalty and hand possession back to South Africa. They duly kicked the ball into touch to grab the victory.

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USA 17-24 Scotland

USA survived a scare when James Johnstone lost the ball with the line at his mercy but from the resulting scrum, the clearance kick was blocked and Damien Hoyland scored the easiest of tries to hand Scotland the lead. That lead never lasted long though as Danny Barrett jumped over their last man to get the USA on the board.

Zack Test claimed Martin Iosefo's kick-off and sprinted his way over to hand the USA the lead at the break.

Thretton Palamo increased the defending champions' lead but Glenn Bryce steps his way around two defenders to give Scotland hope, with three points separating the teams with three minutes to play. Scotland hit the front a minute later as Dougie Fife found a way through the USA's defence.

The match was wrapped up when a crazy no-look pass from Danny Barrett gave Scotland the ball and Fife a second try.

Plate:

New Zealand 35-10 England

Both sides were outclassed in their quarter-finals and will be looking to restore some pride. England strike first through, who else but, Dan Norton to the delight of the Twickenham crowd, but just the clock ticks down the All Blacks Sevens' own flyer Rieko Ioane goes over in the corner after slipping Norton's tackle. New Zealand stretch that advantage in the dying seconds as Teddy Stanaway goes across the field, shrugging off tackles before feeding the younger Ioane brother for his eighth try of the weekend.

Pita Ahki gets the first try of the second half to increase the All Blacks Sevens' cushion over England, but the hosts capitalise on the sin-binning of Augustine Pulu to pull one back through stand-in captain Phil Burgess. It's only a temporary respite, though, because it's that man Rieko Ioane again who completes his hat-trick to wrap up the win. He could have had four, but a long pass from brother Akira is ruled to have gone forward and so he stays on nine for the weekend. New Zealand do add a fifth try with Lewis Ormond scoring after the hooter.

Argentina 31-5 France

Juan Imhoff showed what he can offer the Argentina Sevens team as he shrugged off a dislocated finger to run 70 metres for the opening try. That lead was doubled when rookie of the year nominee Bautista Ezcurra ran in a solo effort for try number two and was soon on hand in support for his second try.

Argentina stretched their lead through two tries from turnovers. There was still time for one more as they won the restart and Matias Moroni ran it in to end a dominant first half for Los Pumas Sevens.

Fernando Luna grabbed a fifth try for Argentina and it was only with the last play of the match that Les Bleus finally got over the line, Jean Pascal Barraque having the strength to get the ball down.

Bowl:

Samoa 21-22 Australia

Australia started the brightest with John Porch scoring the opener before Pama Fou forced a turnover and released rookie player of the year nominee Henry Hutchison for a 12-0 lead. Samoa hit back through Tila Mealoi and captain Faalemiga Selesele on the stroke of half-time to hit the front.

Australia coach Andy Friend's young guns got them back in the lead with Henry Hutchison and Tom Kingston touching down. But just as in the first half, Samoa fought back with Alefosio Tapili running in from a distance and the tension started to build, with it now being a one-point game. Samoa could not grab the winning points and Australia held on.

Canada 17-21 Wales

Canada hit the front after a break from Adam Zaruba sent the supporting Justin Douglas over for the opening try but a good pick-up from Wales captain Luke Trehearne puts his side ahead. That lead doesn't last long as Douglas grabbed his second of the match before Harry Jones puts some distance between the sides.

Wales start the second half much brighter and a good break from Luke Morgan created a try-scoring opportunity but a few phases later, the ball back to him was forward. The try eventually came, with James Benjamin claiming his first Series try and Angus O'Brien's conversion cutting the deficit to three. Rhodri Williams telegraphed a Phil Mack pass to intercept and run in Wales' third try to stun the Canadians.

Shield:

Russia 26-7 Portugal

Portugal made the best start with Nuno Guedes scoring the first try after a good break from Tiago Fernandes. Russia started building the pressure and it eventually told, with Vladislav Lazarenko stretching out in the tackle to score. Portugal just edged an error-strewn match at the break.

A brace for Russian powerhouse wing Denis Simplikevich put the match beyond Portugal's reach and then Igor Galinovskiy managed to dot the ball down in the corner under extreme pressure.

Brazil 5-38 Kenya

The Shield is not the competition that Singapore champions Kenya want to be competing in but they got off to the perfect start with three quick tries from Willy Ambaka, Samuel Oliech and Collins Injera – number 233 for him on the series.

Billy Odhiambo got Kenya's fourth try  but Brazil – who have been hit hard by injuries and had just eight players available for the match – got the biggest cheer when Andre Silva got them on the scoreboard. There was time for Robert Aringo and Willy Ambaka to make the victory more emphatic with two late tries.

Semifinal results:

Shield:

Brazil v Kenya, 5-38

Russia v Portugal, 26-7

Bowl:

Canada v Wales, 17-21

Samoa v Australia, 21-22

Plate:

Argentina v France, 31-5

New Zealand v England, 35-10

Cup:

South Africa v Fiji, 26-21

Scotland v USA, 24-17

Fixtures:

(Kick-off is local – GMT plus one hour)

Shield Final: Kenya v Russia, 16.02

Bowl Final: Wales v Australia, 16.32

Plate Final: Argentina v New Zealand, 17.02

Third place play-off: Fiji v USA, 17.32

Cup Final: South Africa v Scotland, 17.57

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