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England and Scotland lead the way in USA

Saturday 10th February 2007

Lights, camera and...action San Diego!

England and Scotland progressed to the quarter-finals of the US Sevens tournament in San Diego after both claimed two wins out of three in their relevant pools on Day One at PETCO Park on Saturday.

New Zealand, Fiji, and Samoa moved unbeaten into the United States Sevens rugby quarter-finals on Saturday, and the host Americans were denied when Australia beat defending champion England 19-14.

Scotland downed 2004 champs Argentina 17-12 to reach their first quarter-finals this season in the sevens world series.

New Zealand, the winner two years ago, needed a hat trick of tries by Steven Yates to stumble past its Pool D opener against Canada 31-19, then hammered Chile 31-5 and France 26-0 to set up a last-eight match against England on Sunday.

If England had beaten Australia by 10 points in the last Pool C match, the United States would have made the quarters, but Australia followed an upset loss to Kenya by topping England 19-14.

"We fell asleep against Kenya and then decided on a game plan against England and executed it perfectly," Australia coach Glen Ella said.

"We've got some talented boys here but they've got to believe in themselves more, make less basic errors, and if we do that we can roll the big sides."

Australia meets France on Sunday, with the winner assured of reaching its first semi-final this season.

Kenya provided the opening day's biggest surprise by downing Australia 21-12, then squandering the victory by losing to the United States 33-5, which was the Americans' first pool victory in three years.

Fiji rolled through Pool A, routing Scotland 57-5 with a hat-trick from Mosese Volavola, romping over West Indies 55-7, and accounting for Argentina 19-5.

Fiji will play South Africa in the last eight, and pool runner-up Scotland the Pool B winner, Samoa.

Samoa, coming off its first tournament victory in 14 years last weekend at Wellington, New Zealand, edged South Africa 21-14 in the key pool match.

"Last week we played well and now we're trying to keep it up," Samoa coach Dicky Tafua said.

"We wanted to win the pool, make less mistakes than them and keep our positioning. We really wanted to win to prove to our boys that they can do it again here and win the cup."

IRB SEVENS, WELLINGTON - DAY ONE RESULTS/REPORTS

Pool A: Fiji, Argentina, Scotland, West Indies

Fiji again went unbeaten on day one to top pool A. Mosese Volavola's hat trick inspired Serevi's men to an opening 57-5 win over Scotland and then the West Indies felt the heat 55-7 before Argentina proved a sterner test, going down 19-5 with Etonia Naba grabbing a brace.

Earlier Thom Evans inspired Scotland to a fine 17-12 win in the crucial tie of the pool. The Pumas earlier overcame a dogged West Indies display to win 31-0 but the Scots also beat the men from the Caribbean and proceed to the Cup quarter-finals for the first time this season.

Fiji 57 Scotland 5
Argentina 31 West Indies 0
Fiji 55 West Indies 7
Argentina 12 Scotland 17
Scotland 31 West Indies 25
Fiji 19 Argentina 5

Pool B: South Africa, Samoa, Portugal, Tonga

Skipper Uale Mai inspired Samoa to an important 21-14 win over South Africa to top the group and book a quarter final against Scotland. South Africa will face Fiji in the pick of the last eight ties.

Samoa earlier overcame the tough challenge of fellow islanders Tonga, Mikaele Pesamino again among the tries, and Ryno Benjamin inspired the Boks to a 33-0 victory over Portugal. The Samoans consolidated against Portugal 29-14 but the South Africans top the group on points difference after their 19-0 victory over the Tongans.

South Africa 33 Portugal 0
Samoa 22 Tonga 10
South Africa 19 Tonga 0
Samoa 24 Portugal 19
Portugal 5 Tonga 31
South Africa 14 Samoa 21

Pool C: England, Australia, Kenya, USA

Australia came back from the disappointment of losing to Kenya early in the day to outplay England and win 19-14 - Niwa, Rasmus and Cummins each scoring a try. The win secured top place in the pool for Glen Ella's side and a quarter-final match up against France, meaning that one of those two sides will make a first Cup semi-final of the season.

Earlier the Kenyans provided an upset by beating the experienced Australian side 21-12 but they then lost to hosts USA. The Kenyan's do, however, look back to something near their best form, Sidney Ashioya's pace a vital ingredient in Benjamin Ayimba's newlook side, while Jone Naqica and Mike Palefau inspired the Eagles.

England 26 Kenya 14
Australia 29 USA 14
England 26 USA 10
Australia 12 Kenya 21
Kenya 5 USA 33
England 14 Australia 19

Pool D: New Zealand, France, Canada, Chile

New Zealand rounded off a day of mixed form with a 26-0 win over France to top pool D and book a quarter-final against England. Gordon Tietjens' side was forced into top gear early on by an inspired Canada, youngster Steven Yates scoring a hat-trick as the Kiwis ran out 31-19 winners, but the Canadians then failed to fire against France, going down 21-5, and Chile, the South Americans recording a fine 19-17 win with the final kick of the match. The French earlier opened up with a 28-5 victory over the Chileans.

The France-Chile game was also notable for the fact that it was the first ever senior men's international match to be refereed by a woman, Dana Teagarden of the USA.

New Zealand 31 Canada 19
France 28 Chile 5
New Zealand 43 Chile 5
France 21 Canada 5
Canada 17 Chile 19
New Zealand 26 France 0

DAY TWO SCHEDULE:
(all time are local: GMT -8)

M25 1/4 final Bowl 10:00 Argentina v Portugal
M26 1/4 final Bowl 10:22 Canada v USA
M27 1/4 final Bowl 10:44 Kenya v Chile
M28 1/4 final Bowl 11:06 Tonga v West Indies
M29 1/4 final Cup 11:28 Fiji v South Africa
M30 1/4 final Cup 11:50 New Zealand v England
M31 1/4 final Cup 12:12 Australia v France
M32 1/4 final Cup 12:34 Samoa v Scotland
M33 SF Shield 13:06 Loser M25 v Loser M26
M34 SF Shield 13:28 Loser M27 v Loser M28
M35 SF Bowl 13:50 Winner M25 v Winner M26
M36 SF Bowl 14:12 Winner M27 v Winner M28
M37 SF Plate 14:34 Loser M29 v Loser M30
M38 SF Plate 14:56 Loser M31 v Loser M32
M39 SF Cup 15:38 Winner M29 v Winner M30
M40 SF Cup 16:00 Winner M31 v Winner M32
M41 Final Shield 16:25 Winner M33 v Winner M34
M42 Final Bowl 16:50 Winner M35 v Winner M36
M43 Final Plate 17:15 Winner M37v Winner M38
M44 Final Cup 17:45 Winner M39 v Winner M40