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The USA will be the only Americas representative in the Cup Quarter Finals after pulling through with two victories in Pool C. Perry Baker once again led the way for the Eagles with six tries on the opening day in Paris, touching down for a brace in all three matches.
A crappy match against Argentina opened the USA’s account with Baker’s second try the deciding factor. Wales proved an easier challenge with Martin Iosefo matching Baker’s double, but New Zealand again had the measure of the USA scoring five tries to Baker’s two.
Los Pumas found themselves under huge pressure heading into their second match against New Zealand. They managed to stay in the game with two tries by Franco Sábato keeping the scores level, but Sam Dickson notched a third to hand New Zealand the victory. With heads dropping a poor performance against Wales saw Argentina go winless on Day One.
Canada entered the tournament as top seeds for the first time ever but suffered a blow before the first ball was passed as key playmaker Lucas Hammond was ruled out with injury. Two tries from Harry Jones helped them get past Japan in their first match to set up an all-or-nothing contest with Scotland.
In a thrilling back and forth match it was a last-minute try from James Fleming to break Canadian hears. Justin Douglas contributed two tries against the Scots and got Canada’s only score against South Africa in their final pool match that saw Chris Dry and Werner Kok accounting for all five of the Blitzbokke scores.
The USA will now face England on their quest to a second consecutive Cup Final appearance. Canada will square off against Russia in the Trophy Quarter Final, while Argentina are matched up against Kenya. All matches are streamed live by World Rugby.
DAY ONE RESULTS
POOL A
South Africa 12 – 19 Scotland
Canada 21 – 7 Japan
South Africa 35 – 5 Japan
Canada 19 – 26 Scotland
Scotland 41 – 14 Japan
Canada 7 – 31 South Africa
POOL B
New Zealand 26 – 7 Wales
USA 26 – 19 Argentina
New Zealand 21 – 14 Argentina
USA 38 – 14 Wales
Wales 47 – 28 Argentina
USA 14 – 27 New Zealand
POOL C
Kenya 14 – 22 France
England 31 – 0 Spain
Kenya 26 – 14 Spain
England 24 – 7 France
France 33 – 0 Spain
England 12 – 12 Kenya
POOL D
Fiji 17 – 19 Samoa
Australia 19 – 12 Russia
Fiji 54 – 0 Russia
Australia 14 – 21 Samoa
Samoa 19 – 19 Russia
Australia 14 – 31 Fiji
DAY TWO FIXTURES
Sun, May 14 – 09:00 local, 03:00 ET – TROPHY QF – Canada vs Russia
Sun, May 14 – 09:22 local, 03:22 ET – TROPHY QF – Kenya vs Argentina
Sun, May 14 – 09:44 local, 03:44 ET – TROPHY QF – Australia vs Japan
Sun, May 14 – 10:06 local, 04:06 ET – TROPHY QF – Wales vs Spain
Sun, May 14 – 10:28 local, 04:28 ET – CUP QF – Scotland vs Fiji
Sun, May 14 – 10:50 local, 04:50 ET – CUP QF – England vs USA
Sun, May 14 – 11:12 local, 05:12 ET – CUP QF – Samoa vs South Africa
Sun, May 14 – 11:34 local, 05:34 ET – CUP QF – New Zealand vs France
