SINGAPORE 7s: England down Blitzboks again
England and South Africa head into the Cup quarterfinals and will face Kenya and Australia, respectively, after the latter nations bagged victories over Samoa and Argentina, respectively in Pool C
Japan claimed an unlikely 21-14 victory over France to end third in Pool B and go up against Samoa and Argentina in the Challenge Trophy quarterfinals.
Fiji wrapped up top spot in Pool A with a comfortable 35-7 victory over Canada and will now face the USA in the Cup quarterfinals, after they lost 14-21 to New Zealand in their final pool match. New Zealand, who topped Pool D, will face Canada in the other Cup quarterfinal.
Hong Kong bagged their first victory of the competition when they beat Russia 26-19 and will now face Scotland – who lost 19-21 – to Wales in the Challenge Cup quarterfinals. Russia will be up against Wales.
All the Round Three results:
Pool A
Russia 19-26 Hong Kong
Hong Kong bagged the first converted try of the match in the opening minute before Russia hit back with two tries of their own – one converted – to take a 12-7 lead after six minutes. Hong Kong hit back with another converted try to hold a 14-12 lead at the break.
Hong Kong then stretched their lead to 19-12 early in the second half before adding a converted try to take a 26-12 lead after 12 minutes. Russia finished the match strongly though as they dotted down a converted try to close out the match.
Fiji 35-7 Canada
There was no stopping Fiji in the opening half as they made their intentions clear. Three converted tries in the opening seven minutes handed them a comfortable 21-0 lead at the break.
Despite being reduced to six players early in the second half, Fiji managed to grab a fourth converted try to stretch their lead to 28-0 after 10 minutes. They had their fifth converted try in the 13th minute but Canada finished on a high note as they closed out the match with a consolation converted try of their own.
Pool B
France 14-21 Japan
Japan were in no mood to end the round-robin phase without a victory and took the game to France in the early stages. They opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a converted try before extending their lead in the eighth minute with a second converted try to hold a 14-0 lead at the break.
France opened the second half scoring with a converted try of their own to trail 7-14 after 10 minutes. Japan remained composed in the final few minutes to stretch their lead to 21-7 with a minute to play, after a converted try. France finished the game on a positive note though as they ran in a converted try to reduce the deficit.
South Africa 12-17 England
England scored from the kick-off through Charlie Hayter after the Blitzboks failed to collect the kick to hand England a 5-0 lead, as the conversion was missed. South Africa toiled for the remainder of the half without much luck before Werner Kok brought the Series leaders back on level terms. Branco du Preez added the extras to hand the Blitzboks a 7-5 lead at the break.
England came out firing in the second half and reclaimed the lead in the eighth minute when Tom Bowen dotted down for another unconverted try. Dan Norton then stretched their lead in the 11th minute when he raced away. Dan Bibby's conversion ensuring a 17-7 lead.
Back came the Blitzboks though with a late Tim Agaba try but time was not on their side as they relinquished top spot.
Pool C
Kenya 17-7 Samoa
The teams were evenly matched throughout the majority of the first half until Samoa opened the scoring late in the half with a converted try. But Kenya hit back in the final play with a converted try of their own to head into the break level at 7-7.
It remained tight in the second half but Kenya made the most of their possession by running in two unconverted tries to claim the nail-biting victory.
Australia 19-7 Argentina
Australia got the scoring going with a converted try in the third minute before Argentina hit back just before the break with a converted try of their own to head into the break level at 7-7.
Australia took the lead for the second time in the game in the ninth with a second converted try before extending their lead to 19-7 in the final minute of the match with an unconverted try.
Pool D
Scotland 19-21 Wales
Scotland got the scoring going with a converted try in the fourth minute but Wales hit back with a converted try of their own to level the scores at 7-7 in the sixth minute. Scotland then took a 14-12 lead in the seventh minute with a second converted try, only to see their lead vanish in the ninth minute when Wales levelled matters at 14-14 on the stroke of half-time.
Wales continued that momentum into the second half as they grabbed the lead, 21-14, for the first time in the match after 10 minutes of play. Wales were reduced to six men in the 11th minute and Scotland took advantage of the extra man to grab an unconverted try to reduce the deficit to 19-21.
United States 14-21 New Zealand
New Zealand were tactically better than the USA in the opening half and it showed on the scoreboard. It took New Zealand four minutes to open the scoring with a converted try before doubling their lead in the 11th minute to hold a 14-0 lead at the break.
The USA got themselves back in the game with a converted try in the 10th minute, only to see New Zealand score a converted try of their own to stretch their lead to 21-7 after 13 minutes. The USA bagged the final try of the match when they grabbed a seven-pointer during the final play of the game.
Quarterfinal fixtures:
(Kick-off is local time – GMT plus eight hours)
Challenge Trophy
Hong Kong v Scotland (11.00)
Argentina v France (11.22)
Wales v Russia (11.44)
Japan v Samoa (12.06)
Cup
Fiji v USA(12.30)
Australia v South Africa (12.52)
New Zealand v Canada (13.14)
England v Kenya (13.36)
