Series leaders USA eye Las Vegas jackpot

Editor

The fifth round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Las Vegas will kick off on Friday and marks the halfway point in the 2018/19 campaign.

New Zealand and USA sit joint top of the standings, the USA making history becoming series leaders after Cape Town for the first time in the world series.

The Eagles are current Las Vegas champions, defeating Argentina 21-0 in the final last year, and having featured in all four finals of the world series this season Mike Friday’s side will be eager for victory in front of a home crowd.

There is everything to play for this season as teams compete not only to take home the coveted series title but also secure their place at Tokyo 2020 with the world series acting as principle route for Olympic qualification.

Defending HSBC Sydney Sevens champions New Zealand will join Spain, Canada and Samoa in Pool A in Las Vegas.

Pool B features the USA, France, Argentina and Kenya.

Sydney bronze medallists England head Pool C and will face South Africa, Japan and invitational side Chile.

Pool D includes Fiji, currently third in the series standings, Australia, Wales and Scotland.

Wales will open the competition, which kicks off at 15:00 local time (GMT -8) on Friday 1 March, when they take on Australia.

Day One fixtures

Australia v Wales
Fiji v Scotland
Spain v Canada
New Zealand v Samoa
France v Argentina
USA v Kenya
South Africa v Japan
England v Chile
Australia v Scotland
Fiji v Wales
Spain v Samoa
New Zealand v Canada
France v Kenya
USA v Argentina
South Africa v Chile
England v Japan