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The USA are the only Americas team to qualify for the Cup Quarter Finals of the HSBC Men’s Sevens Series event in Sydney. Three wins from three no Day One saw the Men’s Eagles finish in first place in Pool B. The other two Americas teams – Canada and Argentina – will now play for the Challenge Trophy.
Kevon Williams scored the only try of the game in a hard-fought 7-0 win over France to star the day for the Eagles. He would be the last of seven different try-scorers in a 41-0 thumping of Kenya. Points would finally be conceded against Canada but it was Williams again a star with a hat-trick, the feat matched by Carlin Isles, as they came out convincing 36-14 winners.
Canada got off to a good start as two tries from Cole Davis led them past Kenya by 24-14. Thibault Mazzoleni’s second try of the game gave France a come-from-behind win over Canada in their second game but the USA proved their class in the third game.
Argentina should considerable improvement and won two of their matches in the very competitive Pool D but missed out on the Cup Quarter Finals due to points differential. They defeated Australia in their first match of the tournament but South Africa proved a clear step up. Franco Sábato scored twice to lead them to a big win over Tonga but with only two conversions made from six tries it would not be enough to see them through.
Fiji entered the tournament tied with the USA for the overall points lead and they came through Pool A undefeated, with England their toughest opponent. New Zealand meanwhile had no trouble cruising through Pool C with three easy wins to mark them as one of the favorites heading into Day Two.
The Eagles will play Spain in the last of the four Quarter Finals. Argentina has drawn Samoa in their Trophy Quarter Final with Canada set to play Scotland.
All matches will be streamed live on the CBC Sports website for those in Canada and ESPN for those in the USA and South America.
DAY ONE RESULTS
POOL A
Samoa 12-24 England
Fiji 29-5 Japan
Samoa 17-21 Japan
Fiji 14-7 England
England 36-0 Japan
Fiji 22-12 Samoa
POOL B
Canada 24-14 Kenya
USA 7-0 France
Canada 12-17 France
USA 41-0 Kenya
Kenya 17-40 France
USA 36-14 Canada
POOL C
Scotland 7-10 Spain
New Zealand 27-14 Wales
Scotland 12-26 Wales
New Zealand 41-0 Spain
Spain 21-5 Wales
New Zealand 42-0 Scotland
POOL D
Australia 14-29 Argentina
South Africa 45-5 Tonga
Australia 32-0 Tonga
South Africa 25-10 Argentina
Argentina 34-12 Tonga
South Africa 21-29 Australia
DAY TWO FIXTURES
Sat, Feb 2 – 18:38 ET – TROPHY QF – Japan vs Tonga
Sat, Feb 2 – 19:00 ET – TROPHY QF – Wales vs Kenya
Sat, Feb 2 – 19:22 ET – TROPHY QF – Argentina vs Samoa
Sat, Feb 2 – 19:44 ET – TROPHY QF – Canada vs Scotland
Sat, Feb 2 – 20:16 ET – CUP QF – Fiji vs Australia
Sat, Feb 2 – 20:38 ET – CUP QF – New Zealand vs France
Sat, Feb 2 – 21:00 ET – CUP QF – South Africa vs England
Sat, Feb 2 – 21:22 ET – CUP QF – USA vs Spain
